


Precious Things

by DeviyudeThoolika



Series: Precious Things [1]
Category: Chinese Actor RPF, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF
Genre: AU Untamed RPF, Angst and Feels, I'm philosophically opposed to unhappy endings in FFs :), Is that a thing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Smut too, Top Wang Yi Bo/Bottom Xiao Zhan, reverse slow burn, the untamed and UNIQ appear randomly, they're making it a thing, with no real allusion to canon for the untamed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:35:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 46
Words: 119,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeviyudeThoolika/pseuds/DeviyudeThoolika
Summary: Yibo and UNIQ have been signed onto Wen Entertainment for their comeback.Xiao Zhan is the VP of Wen Entertainment.The two may have a previous hx involving XZ in a black mini and fishnet stockings, an encounter that Yibo may have paid for.--------------------------------------------------------By the time the formal event of the label signing came around, there was no avoiding a meeting and he spent that morning taking care to look as different as possible from his memory of the night of the leather skirt and fishnet stockings.  He chose the most business looking suit he owned, some navy affair that blended him into the background, although there was nothing similarly average he could do about his hair.  It was a bit past his shoulders now.  He had grown out a shadow of a goatee.MianMian came up behind him and looked appreciatively in the mirror.  “Have you switched over to my side?”  she asked, catching his eye in the mirror.“You think I look straight like this?” He asked.“Well… You’re too pretty to be completely straight.  But I’m definitely getting bi- vibes.”
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan
Series: Precious Things [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861279
Comments: 1649
Kudos: 1274
Collections: BJYX Prompt Fest 2020, WWX, bjyx best done





	1. Minis and Fishnets

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Coisas Preciosas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940883) by [SnowySpacePeach](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowySpacePeach/pseuds/SnowySpacePeach)
  * In response to a prompt by [blue_forget_machine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_forget_machine/pseuds/blue_forget_machine) in the [bjyx_fest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjyx_fest) collection. 



> **Prompt:**

Precious Things – Part 1

He watched the video again on his phone, dispassionate, his eyebrows doing that thing that his friends always found somewhat unnerving, given that it made his generally sweet appearance transform into… “a beautiful sociopath” as Wen Qing put it. Which was just as well as he came from a line of amoral bastards. He held the phone farther away now as he watched his father fucking the busty maid in the west-wing tea room of their mansion, cringing at the lewd noises that the woman was making that was clearly for show. Even from the grainy quality of the video, he could see how performative the whole thing was. He guessed he should be glad that whatever she was getting out of it, at least it appeared to be consensual. His brother was the one whose carnal activities always seemed to have an air of dubcon, although he didn’t fuck maids. He preferred emerging starlets, pretty girls with enough self-confidence issues and financial instability that seemed perfect for his particular cliched combination of faux cockiness and fragile ego that he tried to compensate with their family’s power and money. 

That left him, the second son. His dad liked to joke around that he liked to buck the system with an heir and a spare, but the reality was that his mother had just failed to tell his father that she was pregnant with a second child for a good seven months, until he had point-blank asked her if she was letting herself go, looking with mild disgust at her protruding belly, and she had smugly told him that she was going to bear one more child to see if any of her superior genes would come through this time. His brother had already been thirteen by then and she had seen enough of her husband in her son to know that she needed to give the reproduction thing one more go to see if this time around, the end product would be a bit more palatable as a human being. And out came him, an angelic bundle of androgyny that his father had hated on sight. His brother did too, eventually, once he realized that his mother seemed to overwhelmingly prefer the girlie boy. As if to spite her husband even more, she took to dolling him up in dresses and make-up with fabulous tea-parties and shopping trips that it took a while for him to realize that he was not really a girl. Puberty had hit him hard, the body hair, the penis (that he had not really paid attention to until then), the deepening voice, the penis, the angles to his face, the penis. His mother had fortunately stopped dressing him in _dresses_ by then, but the abrupt change in wardrobe to something that looked like it came out of a catalog patronized by the equestrian crowd had been a shock to his system. But he had rolled with it. Because if he had learned anything by the time that he was 8 was that, you rolled with shit. You _always_ rolled with shit. But you collected receipts. And saved them for when someone tried to throw you under the bus. His father did that on the regular with his business associates and others of influence that he wined and dined to procure favor with. His brother did that a bit more indiscriminately, because his neural pathways were just not pruned well enough. 

As for him, the second son who came a long 13 years after the first - the diamond that his mother had shaped from the long years battling all of the coal of her resentment with her mate, her progeny, hell, life in general – the closeted gay son who was going to one day take over his father’s empire, well, he was just biding his time. 

He stored the video file away amongst all the other receipts that he saved on his father. Right next to the folder with the shit on his brother. Because what else was family other than Predator vs. Prey. He hoped it never came to that. But if it did, he would have them right where he wanted them.

Once he erased the file from his phone, he went to take a shower. He had an appointment from the The DayToy Room in two hours. He still had to check the folder that Madame Yu had given him a week ago. It was unlike him to not have reviewed the folder of a potential client at length. All the basics would have been already covered, health status, STD testing, mental health history, credit check, that was all Madame’s Yu’s department. What he did was more along the lines of… well, professional staking out. As much as it thrilled him to have people pay him for sex, especially those that had a preference for body worship – worshipping _his_ body that is – he was too much of a control freak to walk into an appointment without knowing jack about the client. Hell, he staked out his clients enough that he usually knew everything from their family situation to their coffee preference by the time they indulged in the pleasure of paying homage to his body – beautiful as it was, if he were to say so himself. He had only had about five clients thus far, but he had only been in the business for eight months and only accepted work every few months when his particular brand of restlessness started to become excruciating and he wanted – no, needed – someone seeking out sexual pleasure with him in a carefully thought-out and deliberate fashion. Not as an afterthought, not casually, not as a routine. But with the sort of focus and dedication that came from putting down good money for it. Earning the right, literally, to see him, touch him, suck him off, and on occasion, if he felt like it, finger him open and come inside him, with a condom of course. He had found it much more fulfilling sex than what he had had with his two previous boyfriends where whatever excitement that had been there in the beginning had eventually died down into this sort of mundane, selfish exercise where most of the time, you just didn’t even see each other, just using the other as a scratching post. Fuck that. If that was the case, he didn’t need to have sex. But if he was going to put the effort into it, it better be worth his fucking time. It better be a spectacle to behold. It better make him come so hard that the high was enough to keep going for weeks. Well, the latter was a state of the mind. And out of the five clients that he had had, a high that was good enough to keep going for weeks had only happened with two. But statistically speaking, he knew enough about people’s sex lives to know that that was far higher than average. And he was not average. And he was not going to live average, either. 

Which led to the issue of tonight. He had briefly thought of cancelling. He didn’t like to walk into this kind of shit blind. But the previous week, his schedule had unexpectedly changed once he had gotten wind of some irregularities happening at the entertainment branch of their firm that his brother managed. His brother, who had yet to realize how much of a figure-head he now was, because the younger brother had started to take over operations at the sprightly age of 23 when he had graduated with his MBA. Now it was some five years later, and he was still just VP, but as far as the employees were concerned, he ran the entire shit with his trusted assistants Wen Ning and MianMian. The issue had involved not just one of his brother’s sexual improprieties but also some questionable financial dealings that were bound to tempt the notice of those who could not be bribed within law enforcement, if it hadn’t already. Rerouting and dismantling that entire situation had taken his full efforts the past week, but it had finally been accomplished and he had conveniently forgotten about this appointment. He had spoken with Madame Yu about it last night, to get her opinion.

“I haven’t had time to do my usual due diligence. What do you think? Should we give this one to someone else? Maybe Jiang Cheng?” 

“He is busy. Besides, I think you should take this one.”

“Why?”

She had paused on the other end as if considering her words.

“He seems a bit finicky. Definitely not out of the closet openly. Would likely need to be distracted by your beauty so that he doesn’t freak himself out too much.”

Hmm… that description itself didn’t tell him much. Neither did it intrigue him. Most of the young men who came to The DayToy Room were still in the closet. They were also rich (Madame Yu’s establishment was definitely not for the financially insecure) and likely under immense pressure to marry a corporate heiress, assist in mergers, solidify further the viability of their business enterprise, and produce the next line of corporate heirs. Preferably in that order. It was a trajectory that he himself was expected to follow, although one that he had no intention of ever doing. He had come to realize that family was an inherited albatross around the neck. He had no intention to creating another one beyond the one he was already cursed with. He was going to live well. His moral reasoning was ambiguous enough to ensure that he did. But he had no care to pass on his genes, be commemorated beyond his death, or anything like that. If no one remembered him once he perished, well he was one in seven billion… besides, he would be dead, what would he care. 

xxxx

He looked at the chart again, narrowing his eyes. There was no picture. Madame Yu had told him on the phone that the guy was somewhat well-known. A mini celebrity if you may. All identifying information was… well, blank. Code name was Rossi. Weird, but whatever. She knew the guy personally, she said. Easy on the eyes. Had a decent body. He would find no fault, aesthetically. For preferences, there is a request though. He wants a miniskirt and fishnet stockings. Xiao Zhan had rolled his eyes. It was one of those. He wondered if the dude wants to spank him too. Some of the young ones were like that. He was fine with spanking, as long as it was that pretend silly shit that was more for show and not for pain. He does not like being hurt. He was nobody’s bitch, ho, or any of that shit. In this room, he always came first. His pleasure came first. And whoever was paying for it, was only paying for that privilege. Madame Yu made sure that this was clear to his clients. For the sort of exorbitant fee that he charged, it tended to weed out the ones just paying for sex. No, his clients were paying for something precious. And he was going to be their precious thing.

xxxx

He had to shave all seven miles of his limbs. The fishnet would be murder otherwise, twisting into the hair on his legs. Waxing would be ideal, but that shit was painful and, again, he hated pain. So, he was shaving. He nicked his ankle in the process and yelled out obscenities, as it bled out into the mother-of-pearl of the bathroom tiles of the hotel where they were meeting. It made him aggrieved with the mini-celebrity with the kink for fishnet and miniskirt with a dick attached. He found a flesh color band-aid and put it on, thinking that once the stockings were on, it would be distracting enough to not notice the band-aid. The skirt was a little black one – always a safe bet – he wore black boxer briefs under it so the stockings bit won’t chafe his skin. There was no specification for a top, so he went with a black ribbed tank. He stood in front of the full-length mirror and took in his appearance. He kept his hair shoulder length- initially not by preference, but only because it drove his father nuts, but now it had sort of become part of his identity. His mother liked to joke around with him that all his power was in his hair and to not let any Delilah cut it off. She still liked to spite his father. Obviously. She lived for those moments. Especially after all the chemo that she had had a year ago. 

He pulled that hair into a man bun now, which he had perfected over the years to look either masculine or feminine depending on what he was wearing. He slicked back almost all of the front hair away from his face, making the hairstyle into something severe like a ballerina. And then decided to tie a light blue ribbon around it. He didn’t know how many kinks he was going to be feeding with all the different parts of his outfit, but what the hell, variety was the spice of life. Stilettos vs. Combat Boots. Both were cliché with fishnet, but in this case, there was good reason for the pairing. And he was not going to mess with what worked. He looked at the height listed on the chart. 5’11”. Okay, he was a good two inches taller than that. Combat boots it was. Not that he cared to please anyone’s faux masculine pride, but he also didn’t start with all guns blazing. Besides, he looked good enough to devour whole. He didn’t want to overwhelm the poor fellow.

xxxx

He looked at the clock as he sat back on the chaise in the room and turned the tv on. It was 8:30. Code Name Rossi should be here any minute now. He lay back and flipped through the channels. His boxerbriefs were starting to give him a wedgie with the stockings, but he had to admit, his long legs were a definite piece of work in them. He was going to turn himself on if Mr. Rossi didn’t get here soon to start the job. 

He was feeling annoyed by 8:45, which was his last thought before his eyes slid closed, some home shopping channel droning on in the background. He woke up groggy and drooling when the doorbell rang and looked up at the clock to see that the time was close to 10. Fuck that. He was not doing it anymore. How dare this asshole make him shave his stupid legs and get into dick-choking stockings and a skirt that showed off half his ass if it flipped up just a bit, all to keep him waiting for 75 fucking minutes. It didn’t matter that he had fallen asleep. That was beside the point. He would just tell him that the credit card deposit would be returned and send him on his merry way. If he became belligerent, well hell, he wasn’t a black belt just for show. 

He wiped the drool off his mouth and wiped off the gloss that he had on for good measure as he walked to the door. 

He opened the door, his mouth half open to say _You’re late and I’m No Longer Open for Business_ , but then closed it (his mouth) when he saw the face on the other side. 

He felt… _Poleaxed_? Was that the expression? When it felt like something kicked out your center of gravity. 

There was a young blond man standing at the door. A very beautiful young blond man. 

“I think you have the wrong room.” He said when he could once again find his tongue, and with it his voice and his cool.

He went to close the door, but the blond stopped him by putting a hand on the door.

“I’m Rossi. Well, Yibo.” The voice was deep, the sort of deep that had no business residing within the vocal cords of this beautiful child. Young man. Whatever. With enormous hands, he noticed absently as he glanced at the fingers gently pushing the door open.

“Well Rossi slash Yibo, I think you have the wrong room.” He said, taking his eyes off the hand and moving to close the door again.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t.” The voice said, pushing the door open more insistently, his gaze falling to the skirt and the fishnet.

Xiao Zhan took a deep breath and then exhaled. “You’re late. I’m no longer in the mood.” He said, although he allowed the door to open and then close. Mainly because he didn’t want any passersby to see his attire.

“I’m sorry. My bike broke down on my way here and my phone ran out of charge, so I ended up walking.”

Xiao Zhan looked up in shock. “Walking? For how long?”

Yibo shrugged. “An hour, give or take.”

“Are you crazy?” he said, turning around to walk back into the room. 

When he noticed that Yibo was not following, he looked back. “Did you change your mind? You want me to call you a cab to get back?” 

Yibo shook his head. “I’m a bit sweaty. Do you mind if I take a shower?”

_What._

It took him a moment to respond to that. But he nodded. 

He heard a quick thanks and then Yibo was in the bathroom, the door closed.

Xiao Zhan went back to the mirror and stood in front of it, looking at his appearance again.

He was a beautiful man, he knew. With an almost chameleon-like ability to change his appearance so that it held the maximum appeal to whoever was in front of him. Of course, he had met people prettier than him, he was not in competition to be the best looking one on the planet or anything. Beauty was after all, just one thing. One of many. But in that moment in front of the mirror, it occurred to him that he had never slept with anyone prettier than him. He had always been the more beautiful, indisputably. The reverse had never even occurred for him to question why it was so. Did he always only choose sexual partners based on him outshining them in physical beauty? It had not occurred to him before, but given that he had slept with at least eight people thus far, including the five who had paid for it, this must be a heretofore unacknowledged need of his… a quality of his vanity that he had been unaware of before. He wasn’t even sure that he was turned on anymore. 

Yibo chose that moment to walk out of the bathroom, clad only in the long white towel supplied by the hotel wrapped around his hips, the blond hair wet and falling around in darker spikes all around his gorgeous face.

And his body. Fuck. What the actual fuck. How come Madame Yu had not told him before? How the fuck was this “decent”? This being was so insanely gorgeous that Xiao Zhan would have be reborn three more times before he would agree to fuck him.

Yibo looked up and caught his eyes in the mirror. There was a long moment of silence when they simply stared at each other, the blond’s eyes becoming more intense by the moment. Xiao Zhan went through the short speech that he needed to deliver before he exited the premises. 

_I'm sorry that your bike broke down._

Yibo was starting to walk in his direction. 

_It's terrible really that you had to walk all this way._

Yibo stopped right behind him, still holding his gaze in the mirror. 

_It really is a shame that you went to all that effort when, really, our time has run out. It is no longer feasible to…_

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful…” he heard that deep voice in his ear as Yibo’s arms came around his waist.

 _It's no longer feasible to…_ he tried to remember the rest when he felt Yibo’s lips on the slope of his neck.

_What the hell was the rest of it._

“All that walking was worth it.” He heard as the arms tightened around his waist and the unmistakable impression of an erection pressed into his back.

“Did you have a few ribs removed?” he heard the question, feeling fuzzy clouds fill his head.

“What?” he asked, not understanding.

“How is your waist so small?” 

_Oh._

And then one large hand was running down a fishnet leg, down the thigh, the caress soft and then stroking.

“Fuck…” was the whisper as the hand trailed back up. “So long…”

What was long? The dick that was pressing into his ass seemed long. Fuck. And hard.

He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. It was difficult, what with the simultaneous attack of the voice, the hands, the mouth, and the words… fuck, _the words._

“You’re almost too pretty to fuck.” He heard that voice again. Husky.

Yes, exactly. That’s what he had been thinking. You’re too pretty to fuck. Yibo was too pretty to fuck. He couldn’t do it. He didn’t even think he could get it up. 

“Oh fuck baby, you’re so hard.” He heard and then felt Yibo’s hand on his dick, over the stockings, which… was hard indeed. What the fuck was happening here.

And _baby_!? Say what? How old was this kid? 

“Gege.” He said, presumably to correct the _baby_ , although his voice sounded all sorts of fucked up even to his ears and he didn’t know how it came across.

Yibo’s hand stilled on his dick. There was a pause and then a quiet, “You want me to call you Gege?”

Xiao Zhan didn’t answer. Is that what he meant? 

Yes, yes, of course that’s what he meant. He was older. If anything, Yibo would be the baby.

And maybe Yibo was not into that sort of thing. Maybe that would be a deal-breaker. The Gege thing.

He nodded. “I’m older than you.” He said, although he didn’t move an inch out of the hold that Yibo had around him. He told himself to move. Move before Yibo pushed him off for the Gege thing.

“Gege…” he heard the voice in his ear, although this one was not smooth like the ‘baby’ and more hoarse, like a growl.

Wait, was he turned on by Geges? Did he have a Gege kink? 

The hand over his dick became more insistent. 

“Can I feel you? Without all this?” Yibo asked. Xiao Zhan was nodding before his brain even registered the question, his hand peeling off the stockings and the rest of it, but leaving the skirt on. The momentary pause required to get the boots and stockings off should have been enough to snap him out of his haze, and it would have been if Yibo hadn’t dropped the towel at just that moment.

Of course, face like an angel and hung like the devil. He needed to have a conversation with Madame Yu.

As soon as the clothes came off, Yibo pulled him back up to face the mirror, the hand now sneaking under the skirt to palm his very naked dick. But it was the erection that was now pressed against the crevice of his ass – hot, hard, thick, and long – that made him moan out loud.

“Fuck if you aren’t sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Yibo whispered again, rubbing his hand up and down his cock. Xiao Zhan watched in the mirror, mesmerized by how intense Yibo’s eyes were, his lips parted, a pretty flush to his cheeks as if he was looking at something he wanted to eat. He saw his own eyes and could hardly recognize it for his own reflection. He looked entirely wrecked.

“I want to suck you off, Gege. Can I?” 

_Could he? Do you understand the words coming out of his mouth?_

He must have nodded because in the next instant, Yibo dropped down in front of him, half of his head disappearing under the skirt in the mirror.

“Oh fuck…” Xiao Zhan heard his own voice, and gritted his teeth to stop the whimper trying to escape from his throat.

Yibo’s hands were stroking up and down the back of his thighs as if he couldn’t get enough of it before they moved up to grab onto his ass cheeks, his tongue playing with the slit, licking the precum with tiny kitty licks before taking him in whole again.

He was so fucking close that he grabbed Yibo’s hair to pull him up to not come in his mouth and heard a slight yelp of shock as Yibo released by hollowing out his cheeks, his dick coming out with a literal pop. He had not been quick enough. His body literally shook as he came, his dick spurting cum all over Yibo’s abs. 

_Fuck. What the actual fuck._ He fell back on the bed behind him, his legs still shaking, no longer supporting his body.


	2. Wen Xu's Bright Idea

Part 2

He didn’t respond well to feeling out of control. Not at all. But still, he had never been a coward. But really, this did not count as cowardice. Just because he was going to sneak out of the room in the middle of the night while the client slept, did not mean he was a coward. If anything, he had made allowances for the lateness. Extended his time. That was sufficient. There really was no reason to linger.

He took a shower and changed in the bathroom as Yibo slept. Yibo’s clothes were in the bathroom, hanging on the towel rack, and he saw the wallet poke out of the pocket. He pulled it out to look at the driver’s license inside to make sure that his chart had the same date of birth. Yes, it was the same. Yibo was going to turn 23 in August. That made him almost 6 years younger. Yibo had dark brown hair in the picture on the license, which counterintuitively made him seem older. This one was staring into the camera as if he didn’t know what to do with a camera that did not pay him to be there. He slid the wallet back in and looked in the mirror. His hair was wet and he thought quickly of blow-drying it, but decided against it, not wanting to push his luck and wake up the sleeping one. 

He walked back into the room to grab his carry-on and noticed that the sheets were tangled around Yibo’s midsection. In sleep, with his hair falling haphazardly all over his face, he looked too innocent to have done everything that they had done just two hours ago. But such was the deception of looks. It never told you anything. Like the contrast between the two of them. He always wanted to receive in bed. He gave too, but only after he had received an abundance. Whereas Yibo had only seemed focused on giving, any receiving he did an afterthought. As if the pleasure had all been in the giving itself. He wondered if this nature of the boy was only in bed or if it applied to other parts of his life as well. Because if it did, life would chew him up and spit him out before long. He felt a moment of sadness at the thought. It was not a philosophy that he was used to, nor one that he lived by. And he had no intention of starting to do so now. His eyes lingered on the sleeping form for another moment before he pulled his suitcase to the door.

xxxx

He didn’t accept any new clients for six months after that. He told himself that he was too busy. He had said the same to Madame Yu. She had looked at him curiously, but had not asked anymore. Jiang Cheng had asked too when they had met up a few months ago. His boyfriend, Nie Huaisang had been there. They were a perfect BDSM couple, and their specialty at Madame Yu’s was to take on new couples who wanted to learn how to practice the art safely. They were quite good at it and did rather well for themselves. _We don’t have rich fathers to fall back on, unlike you_ had been their mantra to him for ages; it was the sort of ribbing that he accepted from them graciously. Besides, they were right. They did not have family wealth to fall back on, their families living in provinces quite far from Beijing and (presumably) enjoying the checks that they sent every month. They only went home once a year, for Chinese New Year, and seemed to always return two days later. He assumed they were not close to their families either. But he didn’t ask. If they didn’t share willingly, it wasn’t his business. 

Jiang Cheng had not been as easily mollified as Madame Yu with the ‘too busy’ reason (“When were you not busy?”). “Was it the last client? Something happen? Something bad?” he had asked.

 _Something good._ _Maybe a bit too good._ But that was something that Xiao Zhan didn’t even allow himself to think about, much less say out loud.

He had merely shaken his head. His unwillingness to speak any more on the subject had dissuaded Jiang Cheng from asking anymore. And they had moved onto other things, Nie Huaisang supplying a steady stream of gossip that Xiao Zhan had only listened to with half an ear. 

When it was seven months, he knew that he needed to get back in the game. He had gone too long without sex. That was not how he operated in life. Good sex was a fuel source for him. And maybe the last bout had been so good that it had kept him afloat for six months, but now he was nearing empty again. 

Not to mention…

“We have a problem.” MianMian came into his office just then, her voice a bit alarmed, which was odd, because nothing alarmed MianMian.

She closed the door behind her before turning around.

“Wen Xu is here.” She said without much preamble.

He rolled his eyes. His brother tended to keep out of the happenings of the company’s day-to-day, generally off at events where he could show his face and get photographed as the managing head of the firm, or otherwise at various “meetings”. Xiao Zhan tended to generally leave him alone, but after what had happened seven months ago, he had had to put a tail on him, not to monitor his “leisure” activities, per se, but really to get an alert if his brother did something that would bring legal trouble to the company. So far, it had paid off on at least two instances when he had had to intervene behind the scenes after his brother had run up an enormous tab at a backroom gambling table and then attempted to walk away without paying up and another time when he had slipped something into a girl’s drink at a bar. The latter one, they had only avoided trouble because the tail had seen it happen and had called him to ask what to do. He had been too far away to get there in person, so he had asked the tail to just switch the drinks somehow. And thus his brother had woken up eight hours later back at his apartment, roofied by his own hand, with no knowledge of how he had gotten back. Xiao Zhan had had a private laugh about that, well, a private laugh with Wen Ning, who had cracked his lips into a slight smile and said, “Occasionally, Karma comes through.” Xiao Zhan had paused at that. “Fuck Karma. _We_ came through.”

Which brought them to the problem at hand.

“He is throwing a fit about that new group that he wants to sign once Yuehua’s contract with them runs out.”

“He wants to bring over a new group? Since when?” 

He sighed out loud. He was up to his eyeballs in girl groups that his brother wanted to sign just because there were a few pretty girls in the group. He had wanted to ask him why he didn’t just pursue people that he was interested in like normal people instead of signing on entire groups without any attention paid to their viability in the saturated idol market.

“Well, it’s an old group, UNIQ. They have been a Korea-China mix until now, although for most of the past ten years, they have been in Korea. They haven’t really been together as a group for awhile now, at least, practically, although legally, they are still under Yuehua, at least until the end of this month.”

UNIQ. _Fuck_. How had he not known about this.

“When did this all come about? Seriously! Why was I not made aware?”

“I don’t think he told anyone. He has been taking meetings with Yuehua reps on his own.”

Which he had known, but that in itself had not been out of the ordinary. His brother met with other entertainment reps all the time.

“And?” he asked now.

“Well, he wants to sign them, but leave one member out.”

“Who?” he asked, although for some reason, he could already guess.

“Wang Yibo.” 

Hearing that name said out loud was jarring, and he turned to the window to pull the blinds open to mask any reaction that may have been on his face. He was the master of poker-face, but MianMian knew him too well to be fooled.

“What’s his problem with Wang Yibo?” he asked.

“I think the young actress that Wen Xu is into at the moment is a bit obsessed with Wang Yibo.” 

Xiao Zhan looked back at MianMian. “And?”

She shrugged.

“Fuck, how the hell is he even running a company? I am entirely at a loss as to how we are not bankrupt.”

“You run it, that’s why.” She felt the need to point out.

He scoffed. “He still has veto power in absolutely everything I do. I don’t even sleep well with all the time I have to spend thinking of all the reverse psychology that I have to use to regularly convince him to arrive at at least one of my ideas, thinking it’s been his all along.”

MianMian sighed. She could relate. She had been watching this dance between him and his brother for five years. 

“And what’s Mr. Yibo’s feeling towards the woman?” he asked.

MianMian shrugged again. “I frankly don’t even think Yibo knows that the woman exists. He is not what you would call… “the romantic sort”.” 

He begged to disagree. Although maybe whispering “ _I want to eat you out for breakfast every day_ ” in the middle of sex may not meet the threshold for ‘romantic.’ But that was neither here nor there.

“I’ll figure something out.” He sighed as he walked back to his desk to sit down, pulling open his laptop.

xxxx

And he did, because that’s what he did.

And roughly two months later, UNIQ was under the Wen Entertainment label. 

He held off meeting them for as long as possible, even though he was the one handling the entire deal, his brother simply signing off on everything. His father – as per usual – had no real interest in this aspect of their business, an indulgence that he allowed his older son so that Wen Xu remained occupied without going over to fuck up the other businesses. His father didn’t care as long as Wen Entertainment didn’t bleed money. 

By the time the formal event of the label signing came around, there was no avoiding a meeting and he spent that morning taking care to look as different as possible from his memory of the night of the leather skirt and fishnet stockings. He chose the most business looking suit he owned, some navy affair that blended him into the background, although there was nothing similarly average he could do about his hair. It was a bit past his shoulders now. He blow-dried it and put it into a half-up half-down style that at least served to give it some semblance of order. He had also grown out a shadow of a goatee. He looked in the mirror in the walk-in closet attached to his office – where he kept a small collection of suits and outfits, toiletries, and other tidbits for emergencies or for those nights when he pulled an all-nighter at the office. Some of MianMian’s and Wen Ning’s things were there too, although he tried to never have them pull all-nighters.

MianMian came up behind him and looked appreciatively in the mirror. “Have you switched over to my side?” she asked, catching his eye in the mirror.

“You think I look straight like this?”

“Well… You’re too pretty to be completely straight. But I’m definitely getting bi- vibes.”

“Listen, Daniel Henney is too pretty for words. And the man is completely straight.” He reminded her.

“Yea, but…” she paused, as if trying to figure out how to explain it.

“You…” she started again.

“Hmm…” she gave up. 

“I rest my case.” He said with a smile.

“So, is this…” she gestured up and down at his whole form. “...for the benefit of The Board? The media?” 

He shrugged. “Today I’m just one of the suits. We can’t take any attention away from the boys.”

She smiled. “Have you seen them? No offense Xiao Zhan, but you could strip half-naked in between the press meet and nobody would notice with all of them in the room. Especially…” she paused for effect. “Mr. Wang Yibo.”

Indeed. 

He took a deep breath before he looked at her again, “Ready?”

“Hell yea!” she laughed. “Finally, your brother has signed a group worth ogling at!”

xxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments = Love


	3. You Got the Wrong Person

Part 3

He tried not to make eye contact. Well, direct eye contact. His brother was at the helm of this meeting anyways, at the head of the table. His usual spot would have been immediately to the right of his brother, but he purposely sat towards the other end of the table, blending in with several company lawyers. They had been surprised when the VP had come to sit beside them, but he had waved away their concerns. UNIQ was on the other side of the table, closer to his brother’s end than his own. And Wang Yibo was seated in the middle of the group. Aside from occasional murmurings between the group, Yibo kept his eyes towards the front of the table where his brother was speaking, not really looking towards the back where most of the suits were, those serving various administrative, legal, and miscellaneous capacities within the firm. 

After this was the actual press meet, where Xiao Zhan was sure that he could easily avoid detection. His brother was always intent on taking credit for everything he did, often forgetting that he was even VP if someone didn’t remind him explicitly. He didn’t usually mind, especially because anyone who really mattered in the industry knew the role he played. And ended up coming to him and not his brother if there was a problem, or if things went south. 

Today especially he was glad for his brother’s tendency to pretend he didn’t exist. At the press meet, it would be easy enough to hang at the back of the group for the photo-op and then there was lunch at one of their hotels. He had overseen the seating arrangements himself. He didn’t even have a seat, much less have to worry about sitting on any table next to UNIQ.

He looked to the door and saw that MianMian and Wen Ning were there, standing, looking at their notes, adjusting their earpieces. He caught MianMian’s eyes. She tilted her head, a subtle cue to let him know that it was time to encourage his brother to wrap up – sometimes Wen Xue liked to hear himself talk long after he had run out of things to say. He looked to the front to try to catch his brother’s attention. They had a signal of sorts, he would extend his fingers slightly on the table and drum it three times in a row. His brother tended to notice it, given as it generally was in his direct line of vision, even if he didn’t notice any facial cues. 

He did so now, extending his hand a bit past the others and drumming his fingers three times in a row. His brother noticed it, probably, hopefully… but Xiao Zhan became distracted when another set of eyes turned in his direction, looking at the fingers first, eyes narrowed, and then following it up to see the face attached.

Before Yibo could see him, Xiao Zhan drew back, far enough that the lawyer in front of him blocked his form entirely. 

There was no way Yibo remembered what his hands looked like. He pulled his hands back on his lap, trying not to give into the urge to click his pen up and down repeatedly.

He should have put his hair in a ponytail or a bun like he usually did. Both worked to prevent his neck from overheating. 

He closed his eyes and dug his pen hard into the palm of his other hand until the acute pain focused him. He was Xiao Zhan. A one-night stand from some seven months ago was not enough to distract him. Not even close. If it did, he did not deserve anything that he had accomplished thus far.

When he opened his eyes, the warmth at his neck was gone. He moved forward until he could see the front end of the table. Yibo was still looking this way, his eyes flickering in immediate recognition when their eyes met. Xiao Zhan painted a cool smile on his face, polite and aloof, courteous nonetheless, and nodded briefly, before looking to the front again without waiting to see a response. All he could gather from that quick glance was that the blond hair was gone. It was brown and blue now, mixing all together as if this was a new genetic milestone that had been achieved through Yibo’s own brand of mutation, superlative as it was. What the fuck was he even thinking. That shit made no sense. 

He eyed his brother now, who appeared to have received the drumming cue and was wrapping up. He didn’t look at any of the UNIQ members again as he got up with the rest of the group, but squeezed through to get out of the room first for the two waiting for him.

The press meet went just about as expected, rather quick and painless in the grand scheme of things. Well, quick and painless until the end… the segment where UNIQ took questions from the media. Xiao Zhan was standing at the back of the room now with MianMian and Wen Ning. It was relatively dark here as the lights were mostly focused towards the stage. It allowed him to finally _look_ without the threat of being found out. Yibo was [wearing](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/44/6f/ed/446fedbd6a2a072ee2c091ba5d6f6d20.jpg) a black turtle neck with a black blazer, the only contrast the narrow lapels on the blazer that were silk. It was paired with a pair of snug black jeans, with a few tasteful rips here and there – if there was such a thing – and two long wallet chains of varying length hanging off one hip. The only other accessory was a somewhat chunkier two-ply chain on his neck, silver and looking more decent than it had a right to be against the black of the rest of the outfit. He didn’t really need clothes and accessories to do him up, but his stylist was someone who clearly understood the blessing that they’ve been doled out. 

“Seriously, what a hottie.” MianMian was a fan, obviously. He saw Wen Ning nod in agreement as if the praise was an objective truth rather than a subjective evaluation. 

“You think so? I think Cho Seung-youn is cuter.” Xiao Zhan said, because… because.

“Oh, he’s the cutest, for sure. Those dimples are definitely evil. But hottie status. Definitely Yibo.” MianMian couldn’t be dissuaded.

“Li Wenhan is hotter.” He countered.

He should have stopped with Cho Seung-youn, he realized as soon as he saw MianMian look in his direction, narrowing her eyes slightly. 

_The Lady Doth Protest blah blah_ … Had he learned nothing from Shakespeare?

“You’ve vetted all the questions, right?” he asked her, mostly to get her distracted from her present expression. Suspicion. Whatever.

“Yes.” She assured him.

“This question is for Wang Yibo, I see a lot of people here saying that you’re so pale, how can there be someone so perfect? What do you say to that?”

Xiao Zhan tried not to roll his eyes. What sort of a stupid question…

“The lighting is good.” Yibo answered with a shrug.

There was laughter from the audience. 

MianMian and Wen Ning were laughing next to him.

Before it even quieted, another one piped up, “Would you think Wang Yibo is handsome if you didn’t know him?”

Xiao Zhan looked at MianMian. 

“No, these are random tack-ons that were not vetted. Come on, you know how it is, they will always try to sneak some in to fluster them. It’s just good fun.”

He looked forward to the stage and saw Yibo make a noise that was something between a smirk and a chuckle as he asked, “If I say yes, you would say I’m narcissistic, wouldn’t you?”

As far as interview questions went, these were harmless fun. But something in Yibo’s stance told him that he was starting to get irritated.

There was a gush of laughter again. 

He put a hand on MianMian’s back and she turned to him with that knowing look. “I know I know. I’ll go wrap this up.”

As she was starting to move forward, he heard the next question. “Yibo, now that you’re all grown up, do you have any dating plans?”

“No.” he heard the answer, point blank. 

There was laughter again. Yibo should have left it there, but he added, “Is it possible to say I do in front of the media?” There was something like an impression of a mocking smile on his lips, and it was clear that he was visibly annoyed. “Asking this kind of question.”

Still a smattering of laughter, but now that awkward kind. MianMian had intercepted a familiar member of the press by now and they quickly asked another question to Zhou Yixuan, redirecting the attention away from Yibo’s snafu.

He watched Yibo now as he stood on stage. His form still gave the impression of that easy slouch that rappers used quite effectively, but there was a tautness in his shoulders. And before long, he was starting to bite on his lower lips. It seemed an unconscious habit, distracting for those watching, to say the least, but ultimately it meant only that he was nervous. 

The press meet ended soon after and UNIQ were escorted out into a limo arranged to take them to the hotel. Xiao Zhan, along with MianMian and Wen Ning, piled into his brother’s showy Cadillac, knowing that Wen Xu was itching to say some shit and knowing that it was better to let him vent in the car than take it out on others.

“That cocky fucking bastard. Who the fuck does he think he is?” Wen Xu started. 

No one said anything in answer.

What is he, 15?” he asked.

“Almost 23” Xiao Zhan corrected calmly.

“He’s lucky I agreed to take him on as part of the group.”

“He is the biggest draw of the group. To throw concerts with an important member missing, especially after a label change, would not only shrink the revenue, it would also turn the group’s fans against our label. We would be the assholes who split the group.” He pointed out calmly.

“Losing one member is not a big deal.” Was his brother’s reply.

He didn’t offer any more comments. He had said enough, he knew. His brother, even if he listened to nothing else, knew to pay attention to “shrinking revenues.” And that was that. They let Wen Xu vent on for the remainder of the short ride, knowing that by the time they reached their destination, he would have gotten it out of his system. Besides, he had managed to finally land the actress (the one previously obsessed with Wang Yibo) and given that she was scheduled to be at the hotel for the event, it would distract him and this matter would be forgotten.

Xiao Zhan had arranged for extra security at the hotel so that there would be no crazy fans getting in. UNIQ wasn’t that popular – as yet – so the crowds they drew were still manageable. But fans were fans; one crazy in a few hundred would be just as bad as one crazy in a few thousand. Besides, the boys had their own bodyguards too in addition to the rest of it.

He checked the ballroom where the event was happening one more time with MianMian and Wen Ning before leaving them to it. He had a permanent suite upstairs and he was planning on lunching there, getting some much-needed time alone. He had had to pull more than a few all-nighters during the last two weeks to make sure everything was finalized for today. He told MianMian to keep an eye out for Wen Xu – to make sure he remained occupied with his girlfriend-of-the-moment – and asked Wen Ning to keep an eye on UNIQ. They were upstairs in their own rooms now, but would be escorted down shortly once lunch started. 

His room was on the floor above the room where the boys had been put up and thus, there was not even any reason to run into them. 

When he got to his room, he pulled off his suit jacket and tie and put his hair back into a bun before calling room service to order his regular. He didn’t stay in any of their hotels a great deal, but when he did, it inevitably ended up being this one as most of their events tended to be hosted here.

He walked to the bathroom to wash his face and had just grabbed a towel to dry off when the doorbell rang. He looked at his wristwatch. That was a quick turnaround for lunch, especially given that the kitchen was busy with the enormous affair being catered downstairs. He opened the door and stood back to let the waiter in with the tray, but in came strolling…

For a moment he was caught off guard and it reminded him so eerily of opening his door in an entirely different outfit, for an entirely different purpose.

Yibo found him standing right behind the door and cocked an eyebrow.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “And how did you find this room?” he added when it struck him that that was odd too.

“I just followed you up here.”

“Why? Do you know me?” Well… he guessed he was going _that route_. Without really planning for it.

It didn’t really seem to fluster Yibo as he leaned back against the hallway wall, grabbing the doorknob from his hand and closing it as if he did this kind of thing regularly.

“Well, I know what those legs look like in fishnet.” Yibo’s gaze dropped to his navy slacks.

Xiao Zhan felt his meanness kick in immediately, as if on reflex when he was face-to-face with cockiness. 

“Excuse me?” he asked, so convincingly that for a moment he saw confusion cloud Yibo’s eyes.

He felt a twinge of… something, but he pushed it aside.

“Who exactly do you think I am?” he asked, injecting more indignance than he had any right to.

Yibo grabbed his hand without any warning, extending the fingers out as if to inspect them. His hands were entirely unremarkable, but in the event that the boy was blessed with some sort of crazy visual memory that absorbed details like osmosis, he pulled his hand back, making sure to do it as if this was the height of craziness and not in a way that gave away his culpability. 

“Listen, I think you have the wrong person.”

“See, even that.” Yibo interrupted.

“What?” he asked.

“You told me I have the wrong person that night too.”

 _Wrong room_. That’s what he had said, not wrong _person_. But obviously, now was not the time to point that out.

“Which night?” he asked. 

And then to redirect this thing on its head before it got away from him, he asked, “Do you have some odd kinks or fetishes that we need to be aware of? I think you said _fishnet_ before. Because if you do, we have to make sure that you’re discreet. My brother can get a bit crazy when his idols get caught up in scandals.”

Xiao Zhan acknowledged that he was a douche of the first order. It couldn’t be helped. 

“Your brother?” Yibo asked now, even more confused.

“Wen Xu. CEO of Wen Entertainment.” He answered.

“Isn’t your name… Xiao Zhan?” 

Well, Wang Yibo had certainly been busy since two hours ago, somehow taking the effort to find out his name. Although he should have dug a bit more and found the rest of it too, like who he was.

“I took my mother’s last name.”

“Oh.” Yibo said. For lack of anything else to say.

The doorbell rang just then and without thinking Xiao Zhan pulled Yibo behind him before opening the door again.

Which was stupid, because what do they have to hide.

If that didn’t fucking give him away…

“I’ll take it.” He said, taking the tray from the surprised waiter before sliding the door closed.

“You need to go back to your room.” He told Yibo over his shoulder as he carried the tray into the room.

There was silence from the hallway and Xiao Zhan paused, looking down at the tray, getting his focus back, before turning back to face Yibo.

Yibo’s face was now closed off, with none of the cockiness or excitement that had been there before.

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.” He said in that deep voice of his before turning around to open the door.

“Hey…” he called out before Yibo could leave.

Yibo paused, although he didn’t quite turn back around.

“Good job with the press.” 

_No_ , _not good job_ _with the press_. _What the hell._ He was going to encourage one of their idols to go rogue? So Wen Xu could annihilate him?

Yibo turned around now and smiled. 

And Xiao Zhan didn’t even try to fight it when he felt his heart skip a beat. The kid was a deadly combination of looks and unintended charm. It would likely not be the last time that Wen Xu was going to find fault with him.

“Sometimes I run my mouth a bit.” Yibo said, one side of his lips quirking up.

“Maybe next time, we can be a little less savage?” he asked, although he smiled to ease the delivery.

Yibo’s expression changed. Okay, so maybe even his smile had not helped with the delivery.

“Even your smile is the same.” Yibo said. 

_What?_

No it wasn’t. He had not smiled like this that night. This was his mollifying smile. This one was for work. The smile that he must have had that night…

That was neither here nor there.

He arched an eyebrow in question. “My smile? It’s like your… _fishnet_?” he asked.

Yibo shook his head as if erasing a mental image. 

“I’ll watch what I say with the press.” He said, turning back around.

He put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it, but at the last minute looked over his shoulder. “I’ll have to call up my fishnet again… you know, to see if you truly have a doppelganger walking around.” There was the shadow of a smirk on his face that he quickly hid before he opened the door and was gone.

As if _fishnet_ is ever going to accept another meeting with you. Xiao Zhan mused as he sat down at the table and opened the tray cover to his lunch. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments = Love
> 
> In the event you were unaware, all of those interview questions are real and Yibo's answers are real too. Aside from that (and Yibo's outfit), everything else is my imagination. - Devi. 
> 
> I don't know how this AU has characters of The Untamed, but with Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo and then UNIQ too. But there it is...


	4. Sweet-faced Bullies

Part 4

There was a comeback concert planned almost three months after the label change, which brought with it its own set of challenges. His brother, now that he had acquired UNIQ, had no real interest in actually managing the group, and turned his attention – cursory as it was – back to the girl groups. Which de facto landed UNIQ in Xiao Zhan’s hands almost exclusively. For the first week, he tried to hand off as much responsibility as he could to MianMian and Wen Ning and UNIQ’s newly assigned manager – but the concert was approaching too soon, the responsibilities too enormous, the manager too new – for it to all work out seamlessly and thus Xiao Zhan was forced to take a more involved approach. The one good thing was that given how they were trained in Korea, no one had to be on UNIQ’s case about what it took to get ready for a comeback concert in this short period a time. In fact, they are so grateful that they are back as an active group that they have thrown themselves into all the prep 200%. Their enthusiasm more than makes up for the fact that they are averaging about 15 hours of sleep per week. _Per week_. Also, the five of them have such a bond, are so familiar with each other, that they move in sync even unconsciously. Even when they are fighting or ribbing on each other, they have a sort of rhythm. They balance each other out. Xiao Zhan feels something like envy as he watches. Although, he is relieved too.

He had gotten them a house of their own pretty close to the studio, although it’s really a space they use to store their things and sleep. They are frequently at the studio, either recording or practicing, sometimes up to 12 hours a day, and at least three of four days a week, they have to appear on variety shows to promote their comeback. He has to admit that he has never seen a group as driven as them before, which is really saying something, because he has seen his fair share of groups. 

To check in with the group, he visits them every few days at the studio, generally to watch them practice. Wang Yibo does stand out in his skills as a dancer, but the rest are quite good too. Yixuan’s rapping is better than Yibo’s, Sungjoo’s harmonizing is insane, and Cho Seungyoun and Li Wenhan appear to be all-rounders, good at pretty much everything. 

They are a friendly group overall, especially when they are with each other. He had noticed that Yibo tends to talk the least in formal interviews, but if the UNIQ brothers are with him, he is a great deal more chatty. Cho Seungyoun can talk anybody’s ear off and he does so regularly when he appears at the studio, yelling loudly, “Zhan Ge…” He didn’t remember ever giving any of them permission to call him Zhan Ge, but somehow everyone follows Cho Seungyoun’s lead and even MianMian now occasionally teases him with the endearment, in an adoring imitation of Cho Seungyoun’s high-pitched scream. 

As for Yibo… he is respectful, courteous, always nodding a greeting when he sees him, but generally nothing deviates his focus from practicing. He doesn’t act overly familiar with Xiao Zhan like Cho Seungyoun does, but neither does Yixuan, Wenhan, or Sungjoo, although they are all friendly enough. And clearly grateful. He is mystified at how and why Yuehua let such a diamond in the rough slip through their fingers. Their loss, his gain. Wen Entertainment’s gain. And he has to admit, his generally clueless brother landing this deal is nothing short of incredible. But then again, even a dead clock is right twice a day.

MianMian is the one who tells him a week before the comeback concert that she is a bit concerned about Yibo. They all train hard, but he trains the hardest. Eats the least. Sleeps the least. His self-control regarding every aspect of this is… bordering on an addiction. She wonders if Xiao Zhan needs to have a conversation with him.

He is reluctant to intervene. No matter that Yibo is the maknae of the group, he is a grown man, with experience and maturity way beyond his age. A direct conversation would come across as patronizing, maybe… He speaks with the manager first, who is still in the process of learning the workings of UNIQ and given his prior experience with only Chinese groups, he does think that the group trains an insane amount. Hardly needs any feedback. Always goes above and beyond. He adds that he has noticed that Yibo has gotten even skinnier, the clothes that fit well six weeks ago starting to hang somewhat loose on his frame. While Xiao Zhan appreciates the man’s feedback, it’s clear that he needs to get information from those who know Yibo well. He speaks to Yixuan and Sungjoo next and they tell him that Yibo always tends to get crazy like this before events, although this is the most intense that they’ve ever seen him, as if he has taken it almost as a personal responsibility to ensure the group’s success this time around. They take care of him, because they are used to doting on him, but he is no longer the teenager that they trained with and while he accepts their attempts to keep him hydrated and to eat on occasion, they think that what is more detrimental is the amount of pressure that he is putting on himself. They also tell him that Yibo has at times become so sick with exhaustion in the past that he has needed IVs. That in itself is not unusual in the idol world, although he is of the opinion that it is a waste of an investment if the star only shines brightly once before burning out. 

But he still needs a solid plan to approach Yibo with this so that he does not take it the wrong way. That Monday late in the evening, with only five days remaining until the concert, MianMian comes into his office. 

“You’re still here?” he asks.

“I was about to leave, but…” she pauses and then looks at the closed door as if she could see through to the outside.

“Yibo’s here.” She turns back to him to whisper.

“What? Why? Where’s his bodyguard?”

“Oh, I think the bodyguard is downstairs. As for why he’s here, he says he needs to talk to you.”

“Me? Why?” he grabs his pen in between his index and middle fingers to flick it back and forth.

“I don’t know, he didn’t tell me.” She says, her gaze dropping the rapid motion of the pen almost absently. 

He notices and stops, putting the pen down. 

He looks at his laptop as he tells her, “Okay, tell him to come in. What time are you getting in in the morning?”

She is distracted enough now as she says, “8. Do you need me to get here earlier?” 

“No, that’s good. Get some rest.” He winks at her and she smiles as she leaves.

He sighs and sits back against his leather high-back chair, the coolness of it a welcome distraction against his neck. 

His suit jacket is off, but his tie is still on, if a bit loosened. His hair is in a ponytail today, which he is grateful for. At least it’s not a bun.

A moment later, the door opens and Yibo walks in. 

“Your hair color changed again?” he asks after a moment, noticing that it is all brown now.

Yibo’s footsteps slow for a moment, noticeable enough for Xiao Zhan to realize his mistake.

And so when Yibo takes a seat, quirks an eyebrow and asks, “Again?” he is prepared. More or less.

“I saw the pictures from right before we signed you. Wasn’t it blond then?” He says, smoothly enough he thinks.

He had cut his teeth for prevarication on much heftier stuff than this, although this sort of lying treaded the line between silliness and flirtation just enough that he isn't sure that he is convincing enough. Give him some major psychological manipulation, especially that requiring bringing his family to heels, and he could do it without breaking a sweat.

“Is that where you saw it?” Yibo asks, keeping his gaze steady.

This is one thing that Xiao Zhan had already noticed about the kid; he had one of the steadiest gazes of anyone he had ever met. As if he had never done anything that he felt the need to hide.

But that wasn’t true, now was it? He knew some shit about Yibo that most people would want to hide.

“Where else would it be?” he asks, holding those eyes without blinking.

“Hmm…” is all Yibo says. 

He knows that Yibo is still not entirely convinced that he isn’t fishnet. He isn’t even sure if the lingering suspicion that Yibo has in that regard would ever go away, but he could live with that. He didn’t need Yibo to be fully convinced he isn’t. He just needed Yibo to be uncertain enough to not make it a matter worth revisiting again. They have a professional relationship now and the longer Yibo knew him in this role – VP of Wen Entertainment, Patron Saint of UNIQ, as Sungjoo liked to refer to him – the less he would remember a few sweaty hours in a cold hotel room from eons ago.

“What did you want to see me about?”

Yibo sits back in his chair and tilts his head. “If you have concerns about me, I would rather you come to me. And not go to others.”

Well, Yixuan and Sungjoo had spread the word quickly enough.

Xiao Zhan sits back in his chair as well, grabbing his pen between his fingers. He rotated it now rather than flick it back and forth, watching the circular motion as he organized his thoughts.

“ _Others_ have concerns about you and came to me. I merely wanted to understand UNIQ’s routines better before I decided that there is a problem worth approaching you about.”

“What concerns do they have?” Yibo asks, taken aback.

“That you’re going to work yourself to the bone before the concert even happens.”

“I’ll be alright.”

“Will you?” he asks, stopping the motion of his pen.

“Yes.”

“You don’t think you’re training yourself too hard?”

Yibo scoffs. “What is too hard? There’s really no such thing. You should’ve seen how we trained in Korea.”

“Yea, but you’re not there anymore.”

“And so what? Do a half-assed job now when we’ve been given a second chance that none of us ever thought would happen?”

“I hardly think any of you guys would ever be accused of doing a half-assed job.” He says firmly.

“Easy for you to say. You come from money. You don’t know what it’s like to be evaluated just on your failures.” Yibo scoffs and sits back, looking away.

Whatever warmth he felt before disappears in that moment. He knew his face has changed when he says, “I don’t think you’re in any position to speak to my experiences.” 

Yibo looks back at him now, surprised at his frosty tone.

“You’re right.” He says after a moment. “That was uncalled for.” 

As far as admissions and apologies went, it isn’t bad, but by nature, he is an unforgiving man.

“You may leave now.” He says, pulling his chair closer to the table and opening his laptop.

Yibo lingers a moment, as if he wants to say something more, but then gets up and leaves.

Once the door closes behind him, Xiao Zhan sits back and closes his eyes. The maknae of the group was proving to be the hardest to figure out. And going by that first press meet, likely the hardest to manage as well. 

xxxx

The next few times he sees Yibo, he’s still polite, although now Yibo’s entire demeanor is more formal. 

Xiao Zhan thinks briefly of calling Madame Yu to book his next one. Preferably one that wanted him to wear a skirt and stockings so that he can erase the memory of the last such encounter entirely. Then decides that after the concert would be soon enough.

He barely has time to sleep for the two days leading up to the concert. The night before, they are all the venue and the practice extends into the wee hours of the morning. There is a steady supply of protein bars and electrolyte water and he is glad to note that whenever any of the group members goes to get any food, they tend to always grab five of it. Yibo at least drinks enough, he notices, although the food is always abandoned after two bites.

The last eight hours to the concert is a ride on pure adrenaline. Xiao Zhan feels what he likes to call depletion energy – the sort that came on just to get you through the finish line before you fell dead away – maintaining him through those hours. And then it is the madness of any comeback concert. The exhilaration and the enthusiasm that only a crowd of adoring fans could bring to anyone who has dedicated their life to this sort of thing from such a young age. UNIQ on stage is spectacular as only a group that has waited ages for their second turn would be – this one even more bittersweet for all the unfulfilled promises of the first debut. Yibo, in particular, is a [sight to behold](https://images.app.goo.gl/jZfbZQNLd1f49qt68), his hair on stage now mimicking the style that Xiao Zhan had worn that second time that they had met, although a much deadlier version of it, in his opinion. This rendition of EOEO is an especially anticipated moment, driving old fans wild and new ones crazy, something about their movements now intimating that rather than the inexperienced playacting that they had done once upon a time, those body rolls and floor humping now are pretty close approximations of someone’s heaven.

MianMian is beside herself, practically climaxing backstage from just watching the enormous video feed and he has to give her a cold can of Sprite to cool down. 

The night feels inordinately short and just as long simultaneously and before the adrenaline runs out, it is over. He is backstage when they come out and he waits long enough to give them keys to the luxury suites to one of the Wen hotels before he heads out. Yibo isn’t with the group when he hands out the keys. Cho Suengyon thinks he is in the changing room. He waits for ten more minutes and when Yibo has still not appeared, Yixuan offers to run in to get him. 

The hair at the back of his neck is standing up though and instead of waiting, Xiao Zhan follows Yixuan to the changing rooms where they both find an unconscious Yibo.

Before Yixuan can even react, he asks him to go get MianMian and Wen Ning and to not tell the boys until they reach the hotel. Not all the media has left as yet and this is the sort of shit that could blow up out of proportion if someone gets a whiff of it. Yixuan nods and leaves. MianMian gets the doctor on-site, they always have one at these events – who is of the opinion that while Yibo is likely just over-exhausted, they still need to get him to a hospital. MianMian pulls his car to the backstage exit while he and Wen Ning half-walks, half-carries Yibo to the car. They get a private suite at the hospital, although by then Yibo has woken up. He sends MianMian and Wen Ning home after telling them to call and let the boys know that Yibo is okay, but will spend the night here and return in the morning. He asks them to make sure that they stay put and not come to the hospital. He assumes they understand the reason without being told. 

He stays behind while Yibo is put on an IV, although after a few hours of that, Yibo insists on being discharged. Xiao Zhan gives him his most stern look as he tells him that he needs rest. 

“I don’t need to stay in the hospital for rest. I can do that at home.”

“Which home? The boys are not even there. They are at the hotel.”

“I’ll be fine by myself.”

He shakes his head in pure frustration.

“You are the most stubborn thing on the planet.”

That just gets him a snort.

“Okay, you can be discharged, but you’ll have to stay with me. At least for tonight.”

It takes Yibo a moment to absorb that, and then he turns in his direction.

“Why?” he asks.

“What do you mean, why? You have made it abundantly clear that you need a babysitter. If not for those brothers of yours, I doubt that you would even be alive and… well _, not well_ …” he gestures to the IV.

“And because my brothers are not here to take care of me tonight, the hardass VP of Wen Entertainment is going to babysit? Is that what you’re saying?”

Ohh… he could really push some buttons.

“Yes, children need babysitting. Especially children who don’t know how to take care of themselves.”

He wasn’t sure if it was the dehydration or just Yibo’s natural irreverence coming through when he says, “Oh fuck you.”

“Fuck you too.” He says back. Because he isn’t beyond that either.

Yibo looks at him then, cocking an eyebrow as if to say, _well, what’re you going to do now_.

“You’re coming home with me, Yibo. Otherwise, I’m telling them to keep you here until you are well and good and recovered.”

“You’re a bully just like your brother, aren’t you? You just hide it better behind that sweet face.”

His eyes widen for a moment at that comment, but then he puts his hands on the footrail of the hospital bed and leans forward.

“I’m way worse than my brother, especially because I look like this.”

They glare at each other for a few long moments before Yibo sits back, exhaling. 

“Yea, that’s what I thought.” Xiao Zhan says, straightening, pulling out his phone to get the hospital valet to bring his car around. 

xxxx


	5. 3 AM Conversations

Part 5

By the time he pulls up to his house – the Wen Mansion, as it’s referred to, as if it’s some museum piece and not a home that real people live in – Yibo has fallen asleep on the passenger seat. But he wakes up as soon as the engine stops. It’s good that they are in one of the garages that connects to his wing on the house. The sight of the mansion can be a bit overwhelming when seen as a whole. It’s better to absorb it in parts. 

It’s almost 3 in the morning now. There must be something in the refrigerator that is a decent enough 3 am meal.

“Where exactly are we?” Yibo asks as they walk through the back hallway to enter the kitchen.

“Where I live.” 

When Yibo says nothing to that, he looks over at him. “Go ahead, aren’t you going to make your comments about the rich.”

“Well, _your father_ seems to be filthy rich.” 

Okay. Yup. He got feelings about the rich. Hell, who doesn’t. He does too, and he is one of them.

“Filthy is right.” He agrees, motioning Yibo to a barstool at the island in the kitchen.

When he opens the refrigerator, Yibo finally realizes what he is doing. “Wait, don’t tell me you’re going to cook for me. That too at 3 in the morning.”

“I won’t.”

When Yibo raises an eyebrow, he adds, “I’m impressed you think I can cook. You don’t think we have a live-in chef who prepares all our meals?”

Yibo just shakes his head at that, although there is the shadow of a smile on his lips now.

He finds some leftover casserole and makes two plates of it to heat up. He doesn’t think Yibo will eat alone. 

“Didn’t you guys learn to cook living by yourself all those years?” he asks, removing the first plate from the microwave.

“You mean, you haven’t seen our Ramen video?” 

“What Ramen video?” he asks, grabbing his own plate.

Yibo pauses the movement of his chopsticks and tilts his head. 

“What?”

“I don’t really get how you’re the VP of Wen Entertainment when you have very little knowledge of idols.”

“What? How do you figure?” He has to admit though, he fell into this business because of his family and not because he has any particular interest in managing idol groups. 

“You didn’t even know who I was when you first met me.” 

“Well, aren’t we full of ourselves?” he asks, raising both eyebrows, while he grabs his own chopsticks.

It occurs to him only a moment later that he had not denied what Yibo said.

He looks up and catches Yibo’s eyes and that self-satisfied smirk.

“Okay, admittedly, when my brother brought you guys on, I wasn’t entirely familiar with your group, but your last hit was like 5 or 6 years ago. And no offense, aside from a few teeny-bopper dramas and singing for Mandarin-dubbed foreign animations, your career hasn’t exactly been a series of wins.”

Xiao Zhan knows he is a harsh motherfucker when backed into a corner.

Fortunately, Yibo seems to have thick skin, at least about this kind of stuff. Not only that, he is not even buying the distraction. Yibo simply shakes his head now as he says, “I’m starting to figure out your MO. You get really mean when someone makes you nervous.”

He scoffs, for lack of a better response. “You think you make me nervous? Goddamn Yibo, but your ego must definitely arrive a half hour before you wherever you go.”

Once again, Yibo just ignores the barb and focuses on the part that needs more scrutiny.

“Well, if you have any sense, I should make you nervous. Because I know you have a little half-moon café-au-lait spot on your ass that maybe you don’t even know you have.”

For a moment, he doesn’t respond. Because fuck, of course he knows that. It’s under the curve of his right ass cheek and the only way someone would know that is literally if they have spent a significant amount of time doing something to his ass. 

“You certainly have a colorful sexual history, don’t you Yibo? What is _fishnet_ , like your side piece? I thought you were going to call him up and check whether he had a doppelganger.”

“Yea, here’s the thing. Evidently, he is not taking clients anymore. Isn’t that interesting? A night spent with me was enough to retire him from the entire business.”

Fuck, one day, he is going to fuck the kid up. But for now, he has to hold his tongue. And his cool.

“The business?” he asks instead. “Don’t tell me you’ve been soliciting prostitutes?”

“Tsk tsk tsk.” Is Yibo’s response. “You are seriously going to disappoint me if you’re going to say some sanctimonious judgmental shit. Just to hide your side life.”

He can feel the heat under his collar. He was starting to get pissed.

“You think I care about whether I disappoint you or not?”

Yibo shrugs, but then says, “I think you do.”

“You have a rather high opinion of yourself. Makes me wonder why you have to pay for sex. Isn’t that antithetical to all this show of confidence and braggadocio that you have going on.”

“For the record, you’re definitely sliding into asshole territory. But you’re lucky I happen to like assholes.”

Against his best intentions, the side of his lips quirk up, but he hides it quickly. Tries to hold onto the anger part.

“But to answer your question, I pay for sex for the same reason you sell it. There are some things money can’t buy. But sometimes, you can get a pretty close approximation of it if you pay enough.”

Well, that is an extremely succinct way of summarizing his entire thesis on the subject. Fuck him for being such a smartass. Smart. Ass. And what a fucking glorious ass it was.

He shakes his head out of that rabbit hole and says instead, “Are we still on this? You’re convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that I’m this _fishnet_.”

“Well, there _is_ one way that I can be unconvinced.” There is a gremlin smile now and Xiao Zhan knows that he walked right into that one.

“You can always show me your ass cheek and I can make a determination for myself that you are indeed not my _fishnet_.”

“Are you sexually harassing your boss?”

“You have a loose definition of sexual harassment.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t say you had to. I said if you wanted me to completely believe your story, then I need some confirmation.”

“I don’t care what you believe.”

“Well then.”

They are at an impasse. But he notices that Yibo has finished all his food. It makes him unaccountably happy, silly thing that it is.

He walks over to grab Yibo’s plate, which surprises Yibo enough that he looks taken aback for a moment.

“Maybe I just want to find him bad enough that I am hoping that I already have.” Yibo says quietly now, placing a hand on Xiao Zhan’s wrist.

He hates it when his heart does this. It never ends well. However much it beats in excitement, it will shatter that much more when it breaks. His aim in life is to never experience it. 

But it still doesn’t stop him from asking, “What was so special about him?” 

For a moment, Yibo looks vulnerable, his eyes turning so soft that Xiao Zhan’s heart is entering palpitations territory, but then he smiles and says, “His ass. Peach bottoms, you know.”

Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes and carries the plates to the sink as he hears Yibo continue, “The legs are literally miles long. And the waist, even girls would envy his waist.”

He pulls in his lower lip to keep from smiling as he puts the plates down in the sink.

“He has the most sensual lips ever.” 

Now he sucks in both lips as if he could hide them like this.

“And the neck…” Yibo is right behind him now and Xiao Zhan holds still, not moving.

His eyes flicker slightly when he feels Yibo’s finger slightly graze a line from under his ear down to the slope of his neck.

He inhales slowly before turning to look at Yibo. Which is a mistake. He realizes immediately. 

“This… would meet the threshold for sexual harassment.” He whispers.

“Sorry.” Yibo says, pulling his finger back.

“I’ll show you to your room.” 

He waits for Yibo to turn around so that he can finally exhale.


	6. Gege

He put Yibo in the spare bedroom attached to his own rather than the guest wing of the house. All the master suites in the mansion had spare bedrooms attached (his parents each had their own master suites and that too at different ends of the house). He almost never has visitors over to the house anymore, but back in high school and college when he used to have his friends over all the time, they used to stay in the attached room to his, no matter how many of them came over at once. His mother was a great fan of his friends, although she was also not beyond occasionally trying to seduce those who caught her fancy. He had been embarrassed the first time it had happened, had gone off on her when he had discovered that she had been sleeping with one of his friends (who had confessed to him on his own, drunk out of his mind one evening), and she had calmly asked him what the big deal was. That they were two consenting adults and that this was all just a matter of perspective. Here was thing about his mother. He has watched her all his life, obviously, and what had become apparent to him – as he has observed in other people in the 40s and beyond as well – was that if some day you woke up and realized that that your life was half over and that you were almost entirely dissatisfied with it – well, you just took more risks. The taboos of your previous years were no longer relevant. The forbidden seemed to maybe hold the secret key to whatever you were searching for. Or you gave up trying to search for any sort of lasting fulfillment entirely and focused on simple passing pleasures. It got you through the next moment and the next and that was how life ended up bearable. So… there you go, his mother in a nutshell. Not that he could blame her. The rest of them did what they wanted. Why couldn’t she? Although he had still wished that she would leave his friends alone. “Why don’t you try to make a move on Wen Xu’s friends?” He had asked her once. She had wrinkled her face in disgust and had asked him if he thought she had no standards. “You are an excellent judge of character, A’ Zhan. Anyone who is your friend, I would trust implicitly.” Evidently enough to sleep with. He was like her human screener for carnal relations. So, eventually, he had stopped bringing people over. 

The house was basically empty today. His mother was on vacation with her friends and wouldn’t be back for another three days. His brother was likely celebrating the success of the UNIQ comeback concert somewhere exotic with his actress-girlfriend. His father was overseas for business and wasn’t due back until next week. Which basically ensured that the only people left in the mansion were the help. He went down to the kitchen where the cook had already set out breakfast for him. He asked for two trays of the same and carried it back upstairs. No one really ate in the dining room other than for dinners when his father was home. When his mother was home, he tended to have breakfast with her on his balcony, if time and schedule and weather allowed. His balcony faced the back of the house and thus had the best uninterrupted view of the rolling slopes of grass extending a few acres that way. Even with how dysfunctional his family was, this was still the only home that he had ever known. And aesthetically, as many updates as the house had gone through, it was old enough that it had developed its own sort of dated charm. 

He carried the breakfast trays to the small round table and chairs on the balcony. There was a set of French doors opening to the balcony from Yibo’s room as well and he knocked on it now, figuring that would be a less intimate way of waking him up rather than knocking on the connecting door between their rooms. The door opened by the second knock to a squinty-eyed Yibo with left-over eye make-up and hair standing up in random spikes. 

His perusal must have been obvious enough that Yibo ran both his hands back and forth through his hair.

“That’s just making it worse. There’s still a massive amount of gel in there. Why don’t you take a shower before you come out for breakfast?” He asked.

“Where? Here?” Yibo asked, motioning to the balcony and Xiao Zhan nodded.

Yibo shrugged before going back inside.

Ten minutes later, the French doors opened again and Yibo came out with wet hair and a towel wrapped around his hips, hanging low enough to show off his v-line. 

Xiao Zhan kept his face entirely impassive despite the heat pooling in his belly and cocked an eyebrow. “More sexual harassment before breakfast?”

Yibo snorted and gestured to his abs, “If this constitutes sexual harassment, our concert yesterday must have been catastrophic. Just the EOEO routine should be bringing at least a million lawsuits.” 

“We have a whole host of attorneys on retainer.” Xiao Zhan offered without missing a beat.

Yibo cracked a smile at that. “So, I am hoping I can borrow a set of clothes. And do you know how to get glitter off your eyelid? Hell, there are bits of it all over my face. It’s a devil to get off.”

He got out of his seat and motioned for Yibo to follow him into his own room. He opened his walk-in closet for him, cautioning, “I am a good two inches taller than you. Keep that in mind when you pick things out.”

Before he walked away, Yibo grabbed his wrist. “Wait, what? You want me to pick whatever I want from here. This is… a lot of shit.”

“You want me to pick an outfit for you?” he asked, taking Yibo’s hand off his wrist.

“Well, yea. Just a pair of sweats and a t-shirt will do. Seriously, I do not have any braincells this morning to dedicate to…” he pointed at the rather enormous closet, “this sort of thing.”

“Sweats and t-shirts are in that corner.” He pointed out before leaving Yibo there. He didn’t really want to tempt his own dick too much with what it really _really_ wanted and was never going to get ever again.

He thought he had given Yibo enough time to change by the time he returned with an oil cleanser and cotton squares, but instead, Yibo was standing at the far end of the closet, looking at a shelf of clothes, fully naked, his toned-to-the-high-heavens-ass on display, the towel in a crumple on the floor.

Yibo turned around now, hearing the noise, and then it wasn’t his ass, but his cock, in full view. 

Xiao Zhan turned around and walked out of the closet, shaking his head, listening to Yibo’s throaty laughter in the back.

A few minutes later, Yibo came out as well, now fully clothed, with the pants bunching a bit around his ankle where it was long on him.

The towel was thrown over one shoulder and he was using its edge to rub again at his scalp.

Xiao Zhan extended the cleanser and cotton in his direction, but instead of taking it, Yibo walked to writing desk in the room and sat on its chair. 

When Xiao Zhan slanted his head in question, Yibo tilted his face up and pointed to his eyes, closing them.

“Pfft. You think I’m going to do it for you?” he asked, not moving from his spot.

Yibo opened his eyes. “I believe your exact words yesterday were, _Children need babysitting_.”

Xiao Zhan walked closer now, setting the cleanser on the table before he prepared the cotton with it.

“Oh, so now you’re admitting that you’re a child?” He asked. Yibo’s eyes held all the mischief in the world. “Close your eyes.” He asked, not wanting to look directly into them anymore.

Yibo just grinned wider even as he did as he was told. “I never said I was a child. You did. Besides, you’ve seen my dick. Definitely not a child.”

Xiao Zhan rubbed a bit more vigorously than needed and Yibo yelped in pain.

“I didn’t get a good look.” He muttered, making his motion more gentle.

“I didn’t mean now. But before, when you sat on my lap and watched it go in and out of you.”

Xiao Zhan paused and Yibo opened his eyes.

Yibo met his stare with his own, the grin now gone.

“You’re playing with fire.” Xiao Zhan said finally.

“I know.” 

“So stop, if you know what’s good for you.” He hadn’t meant for it to come out like a threat, but there it was.

“I don’t want to.” Evidently, Yibo did not respond well to threats. 

Xiao Zhan threw the now glitter-dotted cotton in the small waste basket under the desk and turned around.

But he didn’t take a step before Yibo’s arms went around his waist, just like it had that night.

He should have pushed him off, but his body craved the heat and the hardness, so all he could manage was to stand still, even though his body was getting greedy, urging him to sway back.

For a long moment, Yibo just held him like that and when his heart-rate started to calm down a bit, Yibo took his index finger into that sinful mouth, sucking on its length slowly. 

“Fuck baby…” Yibo whispered after, once he popped the finger out of his mouth.

“Gege…” he corrected automatically, his brain short-circuiting from the heat of Yibo’s mouth and the hardness pressing into the crevice of his ass.

 _Fuck_ … he realized what he said a moment too late when he felt Yibo go completely still behind him.

xxx


	7. Xiao Sanren

He was too muddled in the head to think straight to come up with something to get out of the _Gege fuck-up_ , but then they were both jolted out of their lust-filled reverie when he heard his mother’s musical voice calling out his name from the balcony. 

“Oh fuck!” he muttered as he jerked out of Yibo’s hold and turned around to face him. He rubbed at Yibo’s lips as if that would somehow erase how ripe it looked from all that sucking on his finger. 

“Fuck, do you have to be so sexy all the fucking time?” He whispered in irritation as he combed his fingers through Yibo’s hair roughly, trying to… he wasn’t sure what. Yibo caught on and grinned, “Is that supposed to make it unsexy?” 

He gave up on the hair business, which made it flop adorably forward and it made him groan in frustration.

He heard his mother’s voice again and turned around to yell out, “Yes, coming, hold on.”

He turned back and took a deep breath. “That’s my mother. If she hits on you, just ignore it. She may try a bit harder than usual because you’re sorta hard to resist, but she…”

Yibo pulled him closer by the waist now, his grin gone. “I know you're going to figure out how to lie to me again. To tell me you’re not him. I just want to tell you now to save your breath. It’s not going to work.”

Xiao Zhan closed his eyes to take a calming breath without becoming overwhelmed by the ten-thousand-temptations-in-human-form that was in front of him.

“We’re not having that conversation right now.”

“Or ever. I know who you are, it doesn’t matter how much you try to explain your way out of it.”

He opened his eyes again. “Whatever. Go through the connecting door to your room and then come out through your room to the balcony.”

“Why? Are we trying to convince your mother that we’re not sleeping together?”

“We are not sleeping together.”

“Yet.”

“Wang Yibo.”

“Xiao Zhan.”

“Fuck you.”

“I want to fuck you too.”

“Dear fucking G…”

Yibo tsked with a grin and put a finger to Xiao Zhan’s mouth. “Blasphemy.”

“Screw you.” Were there truly no curses without a sexual connotation? Or was it merely his own vocabulary that was so lacking in variety?

“Can’t wait.”

He gave up trying to wrap up this conversation – which admittedly he should have ended eight turns ago – and walked out onto the balcony.

His mother was there, picking up a piece of watermelon on a toothpick from one of the plates.

“What happened to the girls’ trip?” he asked, keeping his voice smooth and steady.

Thank God his hard-on had flagged. 

“Oh, it was good until three of the girls came down with food poisoning after sampling some delicious looking scallops. We are talking projectile vomiting. It was a nightmare. We tried to ride it out, but they were exhausted, so we postponed the rest of the trip. Cozumel is really…” her words trailed off and the hand holding the watermelon paused, dripping its juices down onto her shirt. A sure indication that the sexual napalm currently in residence must have arrived on the balcony. 

He rolled his eyes and reached over to take the watermelon from her hand and pop it in his own mouth. She was salivating too much to eat any more fruits.

“Mom, meet Wang Yibo. Wang Yibo, meet the lady who owns around 40% of Wen Entertainment. Even if you piss off Wen Xu, I wouldn’t recommend pissing her off.”

“Yes, yes, indeed. I love having power over beautiful things.” She said, still ogling Yibo. 

Okay, she was deviating into the territory of Terrible, but it was just her way of hazing newbies. He tried to not subject anyone to it if he could help it. Although, Yibo did think he was hot shit. He was curious to see how he would handle his mother.

But when he didn’t hear anything from Yibo’s end, he finally turned around. Yibo was standing by the bedroom door still, his expression unreadable. 

He caught his eyes and then saw the uncertainty there, and took pity on him. His mother could be the very devil when she wanted to be.

“He’s like a teenager, mom. Leave him alone.” He turned back around to face his mother.

“I’m 23.” He heard behind him, the voice mutinous, and tried not to smile. In some things, Yibo was quite predictable. 

“Great, way past the age of consent.” His mother offered.

“He’s shy, mom. Leave him alone.”

“I’m not shy.” Yibo said and Xiao Zhan caught his mom’s eye. She winked at him and he smiled back.

“Don’t just stand there, honey. Come and eat.” She motioned to Yibo.

It still took a moment, but then he heard footsteps. Once Yibo pulled out the chair and sat down, Xiao Zhan pushed the other tray of food in front of him and took his own seat.

“Did I take your breakfast?” His mom asked and he waved her away. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not that hungry anyways.”

“Oh, I can share. I hardly ever have breakfast.” Yibo said, pushing his plate to midway between them. He saw his mother look at Yibo curiously before she turned her gaze onto him. He pretended not to see her look as he took a piece of fruit from Yibo’s plate. 

“Aren’t you polite?” she turned her eyes back on Yibo as she sat down, pulling her chair in.

He snuck a look at Yibo and saw that he was flushed.

 _Well, Well, Well_ , if Mr. Wang Yibo didn’t have a shy side to him. It was sort of cute. Like he needed cute to add to his visual. He was of the opinion that sexy and cute should be mutually exclusive. A single person did not need to own both. That would be too much for the world to handle.

“So, you are an idol, I take it? I mean, obviously, yes, look at you. If either of my sons met you and did not make you into one, then they shouldn’t have their jobs, yea?” His mother mused, sitting back with a piece of cantaloupe now.

“He has been in the business for like 10 years, mom. Wen Xu just happened to get his group onto our label when YueHua’s contract with them ran out a few months ago.” 

“Du Hua let you go? I have always wondered how she is so successful. It has to be some voodoo because clearly she is bad at business.”

He snuck another glance in Yibo’s direction and noticed that the tips of his ears were now beet red.

This was proving to be way too much fun. For once, he wasn’t holding his breath when one of his friends met his mother.

“So, how are my sons treating you Yibo?”

“Oh? Good. It’s… good.” Yibo answered after some hesitation.

“Good? Come on, I don’t think anyone has ever described Wen Xu as good.”

“Well…” Yibo started and then paused as if trying to decide if he should be honest or not.

His mother tilted her head in attention.

“I don’t think he likes me very much.” Yibo finished.

That made his mother laugh. “Have you looked in a mirror, Yibo? Which man with an inferiority complex would have warm feelings about you?”

This time he saw Yibo crack a smile, a tiny one. Seriously, he should be certified as a lethal weapon and forced to carry a card. 

“This one doesn’t like me either.” Yibo said now, gesturing in his direction.

He lifted an eyebrow at this and paused in chewing, pointing to himself in _Who, me?_

“Yea, but that’s for a different reason entirely.” His mother said off-handedly and he turned to look at her, his eyes wide.

She shrugged.

“Why?” Yibo asked and they both turned in his direction.

“No reason. Sorry Yibo. Sometimes I tend to shoot my mouth off without thinking.” She said, looking down at the fruits in front of her with interest.

“Sometimes?” Xiao Zhan asked, sitting back, enjoying her contrition, very temporary though it would turn out to be.

“Well, it’s not often that I meet someone who not only bowls me over, but also my usually unruffled second son.”

“I remain unruffled.” He said, although he should know by now to not goad his mother in this fashion. She gave two shits as a general state of being.

“Ah, it must be your nether regions that are ruffled then.”

“Mother!” he says with some emphasis.

“Oh, calm down A’Zhan. No one is going to fault you for wanting this angel. You would be blind and dead if you didn’t. Hell, I do and he is younger than both my children and doesn’t even bat for my team.” 

The kiwi in Yibo’s mouth literally flew out and hit the balustrade. A coughing fit ensued and Xiao Zhan leaned over to pat his back as he threw eye-daggers at his mother.

“Are you sure the scallops didn’t contain something that slipped through the blood-brain barrier and gave you a stroke?” he asked around a mouthful of strawberry.

She had been looking at Yibo with some concern, but now turned to Xiao Zhan with a gleeful grin.

“I didn’t even eat the scallops. Although I think this is my cue to leave you both alone. Clearly, this relationship has not progressed as far as I thought. Sorry if I caused you any… discomfort, Yibo dear. Do come over again. I would love to host you more.” 

“I’m sure you would.” He muttered, giving a glass of water to Yibo.

That just made his mother laugh more as she walked back inside. “Coming back early wasn’t a waste of time after all.” 

xxxx


	8. Wei Ying & Lan Zhan

After the concert, UNIQ became much busier, getting into the studio to record their next album, promoting, appearing on variety shows, and figuring out the logistics of any number of side project requests that each of the members were getting. Yibo was a workaholic, that much was obvious, but so were all of UNIQ, but he tended to push way past the limits of fatigue and so Xiao Zhan made it routine to check in with his bodyguard and manager every few days to make sure that he was eating and resting at least somewhat well. It had been three weeks since the concert and aside from two office meetings with all the members – when Yibo’s demeanor towards him had been all that was professional – he hadn’t really seen Yibo. Which was just as well. Because he clearly did not want to encourage anything along the lines of what had happened at his home that day. He didn’t. He really didn’t. 

Madame Yu had told him that Yibo had started contacting her every week since that night though. Every week, he asked the same thing. If he could have another appointment with Wei Ying, the name Xiao Zhan went by at the DayToy Room. That first week, he had been taken aback. Yibo must know that he wouldn’t accept. He had said no, of course. The second week, he had simply ignored it. The third week, he had been impressed with the persistence. And the fourth week, well, by the fourth week, he was starting to think that there was a pattern to this madness beyond just perseverance. Yibo was trying to tell him something. When they saw each other in person, Yibo made not even a subtle acknowledgement of all his requests going unheeded, but they kept on coming.

So, by the sixth week, he agreed. He was horny. And he didn’t think just anybody would do now that he had had the crack-cocaine version of sex. Just one more time, he would allow. Get Yibo out of his system. 

Two days after he agreed, he got a package delivered to him at home from a sender named Rossi. He opened it to find a floor length sleeveless burgundy robe of sorts, fitted up top and flared out at the bottom, with a black belt around the waist. This seemed an entirely tame affair compared with the leather skirt and fishnet, or so he thought until he put it on. It was no mini and fishnet, but now he could see the two slits that divided the skirt of the robe in the front, cutting right down the middle of each of his legs, so that when he walked, he legs showed fully from the juncture of his thighs all the way down to the ankle. The middle flap of the robe covered everything important. As far as styles were concerned, this was a classy sexy affair rather than just a sexy-sexy affair. 

As he stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, the whole length of one leg showing through a slit, his mother walked in through the open balcony door.

“Have I told you how envious I am of your legs?” She asked, sitting back on the plush teal velvet armchair by one of the windows, crossing one knee over the other. 

“Every week since I was 14.” He answered.

He took his hair out of its bun and left it down. It was a good look in general, but he didn’t think it went with the outfit and put it up in a half ponytail.

“That’s much better.” She said admiringly when he caught her eyes in the mirror.

“Are you still wishing I was a woman?” he asked, smiling.

“Oh, dear lord, no. I wouldn’t change you for the world. You’re sort of perfect just the way you are.” She said with such adoration that he smiled his toothy smile, the kind that made his eyes crinkle at the ends.

She gasped and put the back of her hand to her forehead. “You’re going to kill someone with that smile one day.”

That made him laugh out loud.

“Too bad you never really show it to anyone.”

His shrugged and went back to looking at his reflection. 

“Is it awful living with us, A’ Zhan?” she asked, her tone somewhat morose.

“You speak as if I’m not one of you.” He caught her eyes in the mirror, wondering what had happened to make her unhappy now. Although it was more likely that nothing specifically had, that she was just in that mood. He had found her moods more melancholic over the past few years, the euphoric ones less and less often. She was never truly manic, really, just hypomanic, but even those periods were now tinged with a sort of sadness. 

“Sometimes I like to think that I sort of made you through… what is that word, yes, immaculate conception.”

He laughed. “Does anything about me seem divine to you? I’m like the dictionary definition of a mortal. And a pretty indulgent one at that. Entirely beholden to desires of the flesh. Not to mention vanity.” He winked and turned around once, showing off his form clad in deep red swirls and slits. 

She smiled, “See, I’m partial to old religions. They are much more accepting of wine and vice. You’re like my Dionysus, eh?”

He smiled too. “I’ll get ready for my bacchanal immediately.”

“You can borrow my hot wax.” She said, looking at his leg hair.

He scoffed. “Please. I’ll stick to shaving, thank you.”

His phone beeped just then and he looked at it to see a text from MianMian. Once he answered it and set it down, his mother spoke again. “So, that cutie pie idol is not in the running anymore?”

He turned back to the mirror, pretending to fiddle with his belt. “Oh, he was never in the running.”

“Oh, you think you’re grown enough to lie to me?”

“I’m his employer, you’re talking about sexual harassment.”

“It’s only harassment if it’s non-consensual.”

“You think Wen Xu doesn’t do enough damage? I should throw my hat in that ring too? Let’s see how many of the Wen sons will take advantage of the idols signed to them?”

For once she didn’t have a reply.

After a moment, he gave her a side glance in the mirror. “Besides, what makes him so special that you brought this up now? You saw him like two months ago.”

She smiled, catching his eye. “I don’t know. He was sort of adorable. Like the genuine kind of cute, not that fake stuff every newbie tries to come up with.”

“He is not a newbie.” He reminded her. 

“Yea, I know. But there’s something about him…” 

He thought she would say more, but she didn’t, just petering off and now staring out the window.

“Were you ever in love, mom?” He wondered why he had never asked her that before.

It took her a moment, but then she nodded wistfully, still staring out the window.

“With whom?”

“Your father.” She said, turning in his direction once again. 

He turned around too, to face her.

“Just to make sure, we are talking about Wen Ruohan, right? Wen Xu’s father?”

She laughed before she nodded.

“Because you know, I’ve always sort of wondered why you gave me your last name and why dad didn’t protest?”

She scoffed. “What right does he have to stop me from naming at least one of my children with my last name?” 

“He didn’t care?” It’s not like this subject hadn’t come up in his 28 years of life, but he could never quite fully buy the answer that she gave.

“He did. But he relented when he knew that I was obstinate. What else could he do? I was the one who carried you for nine months and pushed you out after 36 hours of labor.”

He had heard that part too.

“He never thought that I wasn’t his?” 

“I’m sure that he ran a paternity test as soon as you came home from the hospital. After all, you look almost nothing like him and almost entirely like me.”

He had figured. Hell, he had done one himself as soon as he had turned 21. Back then, he had been looking forward ardently to finding out that he had a different father. And then of course the test had come back with a 99% or greater chance that Wen Ruohan was indeed his father. He had gotten rip-roaring drunk that night and had had some rather painful sex with his boyfriend at the time. And had then promptly dumped him the day after, the conversation going something like, _If I say I don’t need lube when I’m drunk, you fucking do not take my word for it, asshole!_

“But over the years, any doubt that he had has been erased, I’m sure.” She said now.

“Well yea, a paternity test will tend to do that.”

“Not because of that. Your brain, it’s a lot like his. He knows your brother lacks quite greatly in that department. Not to mention, sense. But you, your approach to business is always the long-haul. He can appreciate that sort of perseverance and acumen and strategy.”

Unfortunately, that was not a compliment to his ears. He had no desire to be like his father, even in any good bits. He liked to think that his DNA was only his mother’s. Besides, even though he was good at business, he had little interest in it. But their holdings were too vast and influential to leave to the whims of someone like Wen Xu. And even though Wen Xu pretended like he didn’t know, his father had given the second son roles in several of their other companies. It was his way of priming Xiao Zhan to advance eventually. But he was treated no differently than any of the other employees who held his position. In fact, there were still many in the Wen Group who didn’t know that he was the second son. And if someone didn’t know his relation to his father, neither he nor his father volunteered the information. It worked out well for both of them.

“How did you ever fall in love with dad?” he asked with genuine curiosity. He had always sort of assumed that theirs had been a business marriage. They both came from influential families, hers slightly more prominent than his at the time of their marriage, although he had vastly expanded his hold after the marriage.

“Once upon a time, he was a charming man. He thought I was quite pretty. A bit sassy. He liked that sort of thing then. At that age, that’s enough to think you’re in love.”

“Then what happened?” 

She shrugged. “Life.” She said, as if that explained it all.

One reason he had no plans of getting married. There was a lot that looked like love in the beginning. But alas, that road only led to disappointment. Romantic relationships, to him, were brief intersections in life. If you understood the time-limited nature of it, then you could really reap the most value from it. It was important to move on when the relationship exhausted all its possibilities. To not linger around. That was the only way to be. People always stuck around, afraid of change, until everything turned into poison. Just look at his parents. They were well and stuck. They just had too many business interests tied together to ever dissolve the marriage. The best they could hope for was the open marriage that they had now. And a house large enough to ensure they could live in it for months and not run into each other. Also, it helped that neither of them was in love with anyone else. They just fucked around. And always came back home. It had just become the way of life.

“That boy.” She said abruptly, breaking into his musings.

She didn’t need to explain which boy. 

He raised an eyebrow.

“I like him.” she said now, smiling a wistful smile. 

“Why?” he asked.

“He’s like this pure thing.”

He wasn’t sure about all that.

“Like he’s incorruptible.” She added.

He laughed as he got a sudden mental image of Yibo growling in his ear and holding tightly around his belly as he came inside him, biting so hard into his shoulder that he had left an enormous bruise.

“Indeed. He’s just a pure little baby.” He smirked to himself as he looked back in the mirror.

It took a moment before he noticed his mother’s expression behind him.

“What?” he asked.

“You already slept with him, didn’t you?”

xxx

The hotel that they agreed to meet at this time around was at least 45 minutes away from Beijing. Which was some ridiculous distance to travel just to bone. But what the hell. Even if he could still manage relative anonymity if they took precautions, Yibo had gained quite a bit more visibility since the comeback concert and they couldn’t really risk it.

Yibo arrived promptly at 9:00, and just like last time, went immediately into the bathroom for a shower.

Xiao Zhan appreciated the dedication to cleanliness, especially given how nasty things were likely to get. He meant that in the most delicious way possible.

He sat on the ledge by the window, enjoying the air going up his bare legs. He had opted for only boxer briefs under the outfit. No stockings and no footwear. What was the point. They would just be things that would stay on for a moment before coming off. 

The bathroom door opened and Yibo came out, the towel and the wet hair making a reappearance. 

The lights in the room were off with only one lamp in the corner shedding soft light. Xiao Zhan was in partial darkness against the window ledge and it allowed him the chance to watch Yibo to his heart’s content without being found out. 

But Yibo paused a few feet away from him, watching him in return as if he could see every detail even with the shadow of darkness.

He had forgotten how intense Yibo’s gaze could get. When he started to flush under the collar of the infernal robe, he looked down and gestured to it, “So you have some sort of fetish for drama costumes?” he asked.

He had meant that in jest, but Yibo nodded his head.

“You sort of look like a manga character come to life.” 

“Ah, so that’s your thing? You want to fuck a manga character?”

Yibo came close to him then, abandoning the towel that was around his neck, but keeping the one around his hips.

He paused though, when he saw his bare feet, one of which was propped on the side table next to the ledge.

“Did you prefer that I kept my shoes on?” he asked, when Yibo’s gaze lingered on his [foot](https://images.app.goo.gl/bYudWgjpbbnqxhWf6) longer than necessary.

“I think I want to suck you toe.” 

For a moment, Xiao Zhan had no response. He didn’t think anyone had ever wanted to suck his toe before, so deliberately at least. He did think he had rather nice feet, well, it had a distinctly high arch that could be considered sexy. But he hadn’t really thought much about his toes, they were clean and buffed neatly, but otherwise pretty typical.

The next instant, Yibo was between his legs, running his hands up their length revealed in fully glory by the slits. 

“You shaved again.” Yibo’s fingers stroked over the smooth skin.

“The least I could do after all the begging you did with Madame Yu to see me again.” He smiled a half smile as [he leaned back on the heels of his palms](https://images.app.goo.gl/5zkPe6tyzxERsq8W6)*. 

“Hmm…” was all Yibo said, although his fingers roving up the side of his calves and then up the sides of his thighs was so slow that his dick twitched in anticipation.

“What should I call you?” Yibo asked as his other hand snaked around Xiao Zhan’s waist to pull him closer.

“Wei Ying.” 

“Wei. Ying.” Yibo said slowly, as if testing its weight out on his tongue.

Xiao Zhan nodded. “Just a character from a web novel that I like.”

“Hmm… and what will you call me?” 

That gave him pause. They were making some clear demarcations between their two lives.

“You want me to give you a name?” 

Yibo nodded.

He thought of Rossi first, the name that Yibo had picked out for himself, but really couldn’t see himself calling out Rossi in the middle of sex. But…

“Lan Zhan.” He said.

Yibo raised an eyebrow. “Lan Zhan?” 

“He has quite the stamina when plowing into Wei Ying.” 

“Aah, I see…” There was a slight smile on those lips now.

Yibo’s hands slid down to Xiao Zhan’s hips now as he pulled him forward until… fuck… he closed his eyes and tried not to moan as Yibo’s hard cock pressed into him. His head fell back though and Yibo mouth closed around the skin there, sucking deep.

“Lan Zhan…” his voice was needy when he called out without even thinking.

Yibo lifted his mouth off his neck and he opened his eyes to see if the name had been a misfire. He hadn’t even thought it through really. The outfit was throwing him off.

Yibo’s eyes were almost glowing with lust as he whispered, “I can see why Lan Zhan would plow into Wei Ying.”

“Lan Zhan is a fucking animal, you know.” He whispered back, his tone turning wicked now that he could hear the fervor in Yibo’s voice. 

“In bed, I hope?” Yibo nuzzled under his ear.

“In bed, in the bushes, against a rock, in the library.”

“What manga is this?” Yibo pulled back.

Xiao Zhan smiled. “It’s a well-kept secret. We fans don’t want the world to know and destroy all the BL in it with a live-action adaptation, you know?”

“In the library?” Yibo asked now.

“And once with the back of Lan Zhan’s sword, Bichen.”

“Okay, that just sounds painful.” Yibo said, his expression cringing in pain.

“Oh wait, that wasn’t Lan Zhan. That was Wei Ying doing it to himself.”

“With the back of a sword? Why, was Lan Zhan not available?” 

“It’s a long story.” He said with a smile, but then pulled Yibo back to him. “But I’m glad you don’t get off on causing pain. Because I don’t get off on receiving it.”

“Not even a little bit?” Yibo asked, burying his face in his neck again as he tugged his underwear off.

Xiao Zhan shook his head, biting down on his lip when he felt the Yibo’s large hand palm him.

“Not even a little...” He whispered just before Yibo mouth was on his, biting into that lower lip before sucking on it.

The rest was another moan.

“Does Wei Ying like big dicks?” Yibo asked when he let go of his bruised red lips. His hand slipped down from the dick and moved further down to find the hole that was already wet. His expression turned into surprise and then a growl before he slipped a finger in and then two. 

“Wei Ying only likes Lan Zhan’s dick. He was straight until then.” Xiao Zhan offered, moving his hips around to give Yibo’s fingers some guidance.

“Aah, it’s one of those… And I take it Lan Zhan was straight until Wei Ying too.”

“Oh, Lan Zhan had practically achieved monkhood before Wei Ying came along and fucked it all up.” 

“Oh yea?” Yibo asked, his eyes glazing over pleasantly when Xiao Zhan squeezed out the lube from the bottle next to him and slicked his dick up and down with it.

“Oh yes. Wei Ying got into his system and broke it all down, making a complete mush of all of his insides.” 

He brought Yibo’s dick in line with his opening and could see Yibo’s eyes take in the sight with some sort of concentration.

“Until all he could think of was fucking Wei Ying… all… the…”. He groaned as Yibo slid inside slowly. “ugh… Fucking… Time.”

“Fuck if Wei Ying doesn’t have some magic hidden inside him.” Yibo murmured as he started to move in and out, setting the rhythm.

“Oh, Wei Ying just loves Lan Zhan’s cock. That’s the magic. He’s just a little cockslut for Lan Zhan.” He grit his teeth down hard and his fingers climbed into Yibo’s hair when their movement started to rub against his sweet spot.

“Sounds like Lan Zhan hit the jackpot.” Yibo tongued the lower edge of his ear and he thought the sound coming from his throat was a whine.

“Hmm… did he?” he asked, grabbing Yibo around his naked hips and pulling him even closer.

Yibo pulled back from his ear to look him in the eyes. The naughtiness was gone now and then, it wasn’t just his dick and ass that was squeezing tight, but some regions to the north of them too. He had to remind himself to never look directly into Yibo’s eyes for long. So, he brought Yibo back to his neck, running his other hand down his back and over the clenching muscles of his incredible glutes.

“He definitely did.” Yibo whispered, nosing his neck, but coming back up to take his lips into a soft kiss.

Xiao Zhan couldn’t deal with his heart trying to attack itself and pulled back from the kiss even though he didn’t want to.

“This kind of kissing is not allowed.” He said, quietly.

“What sort of kissing?” Yibo asked.

“This kind…” he said, pursing his lips as if to demonstrate.

“I can’t kiss your lips?” 

“You can… but it has to be…”

Yibo raised an eyebrow.

“Harder, with more feeling. You know the type…”

“That bruises your lips? I thought you said you didn’t like pain.” Yibo was all that was innocent now.

Xiao Zhan licked the side of his top lip absently as he thought of how to answer.

“You can’t be Wei Ying in a half-assed way. If you’re going to be him and make me Lan Zhan, you gotta go all the way.” 

“You haven’t even read the novel. What do you know about Wei Ying anyway?” 

“Hey, he turned gay for my man, Lan Zhan. That gives me an idea of how whipped he is.” Yibo pulled the belt off of Xiao Zhan’s robe as he was talking and then pulled the whole cloth off to throw it onto the bed behind them. 

Xiao Zhan was by then too distracted to speak and Yibo used the opportunity to pull him off the ledge and turn him around so that his back was flush against his chest.

“I love holding you like this.” He said in Xiao Zhan’s ear, dropping kisses there now. 

Xiao Zhan’s eyes closed in pleasure, an entirely different kind that didn’t just involve his nether regions, and he tried his best to accept only the heat and not the warmth of Yibo’s body. 

Yibo nuzzled his long hair aside, dropping kisses along the shoulder blades.

He needed Yibo back inside him and he bent over the ledge now, his forearms balanced as he pushed against Yibo’s cock. That was too much for Yibo to resist and soon thereafter, he was back inside, setting a harder, longer rhythm from this angle. There was no more talk and Xiao Zhan took his own cock in his hand to pump it up and down when he could feel an intense pressure building inside. And sooner than later, just like the last time, Yibo spilled inside him, clutching him hard around his tight belly, biting hard into shoulder, the pain turning into pleasure as a mind-numbing orgasm ripped through him, their bodies vibrating together as they rode out its waves.

xxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *At least some part of this chapter was inspired by this single shot! Wei Wuxian is sexy as all fuck!  
> https://images.app.goo.gl/5zkPe6tyzxERsq8W6
> 
> Comments = Love (seriously, it took ages to write Part 8, so if you have love to give, do so here, especially those who always request longer chapters ;)


	9. Fantasy

For two weeks after that, he didn’t see Yibo. UNIQ was busy with group practice for a showcase that was coming up, the practices easily going up to 12 hours a day, which was an insane pace really. He thought of visiting them at the studio, but decided against it. He got their practice videos every few days anyways. 

The way their last hotel night had wrapped up, he had known that they would do it again. There was no way that was going to be the last. It was too good to stop. Not yet, at least. They could really go until they were tired of each other. So he had anticipated that Yibo would send another request through Madame Yu at some point. He just hadn’t anticipated that it would be as soon as three weeks week. 

So there he was, in another hotel, still about 45 minutes from Beijing, waiting. There had been no specific requests for outfits this time around, although he wondered if it went without saying that it would be the same as last time. And so he was back to Wei Ying’s red robe with its slits. He liked how Yibo’s eyes had lit up the last time he wore it. Although Yibo’s eyes had lit up for the mini skirt too. _He_ was the common denominator, not the clothes. Yibo just liked fucking him. Made sense.

Yibo came at 8:55 and just like always, immediately went in for a shower. However, when he came out, it was not in the white towel, but in an almost identical robe to his, except this was light blue and had no slits. Xiao Zhan’s eyes narrowed, “Have you been looking up Lan Zhan?” 

“Aren’t you getting tired of the same ol’ white towel?” Yibo returned with a shrug.

“Where’s your slit?” he asked, pointing to the skirt of the robe.

“My legs are not nearly as spectacular as yours.” Was the answer.

_Oh, but everything else was. Especially… well, everything really…_

“They _are_ sort of spectacular, aren’t they?” He said instead, extending one leg straight ahead, the slit at his thighs parting like the red sea, his toes nudging into Yibo’s crotch. They both followed his movement and he smirked when Yibo’s dick twitched and started to rise. It was making a tent in the robe, which compared to his, was somewhat more transparent, he could see now. And Yibo was wearing nothing underneath. Obviously.

“Fuck, come here.” He said, his tone changing from playful to horny just like that.

There was more action against the window ledge this time around too, and then the side chaise and then the table by the mirror, before they finally made it to bed.

“My dick literally will not get up anymore tonight.” He murmured when Yibo pulled him back against his chest, one hand around his waist.

Yibo still had the outfit on, incredibly enough, but his own had been pulled off and abandoned at some point when even the AC couldn’t keep up with the heat his body was generating. 

“Can’t you just cuddle?” Yibo’s voice was a bit raspy and a lot sleepy and he didn’t have the energy to tell him that cuddling wasn’t part of the deal. And so they both fell asleep. But an hour later, he woke up. He never slept deeply enough to lose track of time, his internal clock always on alert.

Yibo was still asleep, still with his hand thrown over his waist, although his hold now a bit more lax in slumber. He was about to slink off the bed, but just as he turned, he caught Yibo’s sleeping face, and paused.

Without thinking too much, he lay back down, this time facing Yibo. He really did look just like his mother’s description of him when he was like this, a bit less GQ and a bit more cute-as-a-button. When he found himself reaching for Yibo’s face, he pulled back and started to move off the bed once again. Which is when he noticed it, through the gape in Yibo’s robe. At first he thought it was just a hickey or something similar that he had accrued from their overnight acrobatics. But when he pulled at the robe a bit more, he saw that this was a purplish-red splotch that extended over a larger surface area. 

“What the fuck!” he whispered, although loud enough that Yibo opened his eyes.

He looked at Yibo, who seemed a bit groggy, before looking back down at his chest, now pulling the belt off forcefully.

Yibo watched for a moment as if he wasn’t sure what exactly was happening, but then he must have remembered because he sat up, trying to get the robe back together.

“I should have known when you freaking kept that robe on all night, Mr-I-like-to-bare-it-all. I mean you literally stood buck naked in my closet to look for some sweats. How the fuck would you actually keep clothes on through three bouts of sex!”

“Stop!” he said, pulling the pieces of the robe back together.

When it came down to it though, he was simply stronger than Yibo or it was just that trying to pull something apart was easier than trying to keep it together, because before long, the entire robe had parted and he could see the large bruise that extended to the right of Yibo’s sternum. 

“Holy Hell! What the fuck happened? Did someone beat you up?” his eyes widened. 

“Who’s going to beat me up?” Yibo snorted as he attempted to pull the robe closed once more.

“Me, if you don’t tell me what happened!” he pulled the robe back open and now pulled it off Yibo’s shoulders.

“You have violent tendencies, you know that?” 

“They are going to go from tendencies to actions if you don’t tell me what happened. Should I call one of your brothers?”

“And say what? Oh, I am calling you at 2 in the morning because I am here with Yibo and, yea, I just noticed that he has a rather large bruise on his chest. Oh, how did I see his chest? His naked chest? At this time of the night? Oh, you see, it’s because I’ve been fucking him on the DL for some time now. I know, surprise!”

_Well, that was a mouthful._

Xiao Zhan sat back on his haunches on the bed, the sheets a tangled mess around his waist and hips.

“Are you being sarcastic right now?” he asked. 

Yibo raised an eyebrow.

“Do I look like I’m in the mood to be sarcastic right now?” He pointed to his own face.

Yibo looked at his face, as if seriously pondering its mood.

“You look sort of sexy with that disheveled pony tail with the red ribbon and nothing else.” His gaze drifted down his chest and waist and the sheet.

“Do I look like I’m in the mood to be distracted?” he asked again, still keeping the finger pointing at his face.

This time, Yibo got off the bed and pulled the whole robe off. 

And just like that and with no conscious thought, his eyes fell to Yibo’s cock, partially erect as it was.

He swallowed hard when he felt his own dick respond like it was some bird calling out its response to a mating call. Not _like_. That was exactly what this was. 

He turned his eyes to more respectable areas, although that was only to see Yibo put a knee on the bed and then another. Then he was on him, grabbing him around the waist and kissing him open-mouthed, pushing him back onto the bed. He pulled the sheet off and brought their hips together, slotting their legs, and then he was moving on top of him, their dicks rubbing against each other, and against all odds, Xiao Zhan was ready again.

“Fuck, you’re going to fuck me out of my senses and reason. Is that what you’re trying to do?”

“I can’t help it. I get horny every time I look at you.”

“Wei Ying has some sort of magic…” he gasped when Yibo turned him around before climbing behind him. The bottle of lube was on the bedside table from its last use, and Yibo slicked his dick with it as he said, “Wei Ying is a hottie for sure.” His fingers slid inside to tease him more than prep him, making him raise his hips in anticipation even as he called out a half-hearted, “Stop teasing.” 

But when Yibo slid inside him, the entry considerably smoother now than earlier in the night, he pressed his face into the pillow, sighing at the fullness. 

“Wei Ying is a hottie.” He heard the murmur in his ears as Yibo balanced his forearms on either side of him, moving deliberately, setting a much slower rhythm than all the other times. 

“But he is a tame imitation of the real thing.”

“What’s the real thing?” he asked, trying to focus on the words.

“This one right now who can’t even fucking remember that we’re supposed to keep up the pretense no matter what. That as soon as you break that cardinal rule by bringing up something from our real lives, all those lines you have drawn disappear like sand.” 

“What?” he asked, almost humming in pleasure.

“Who I really want to fuck is Xiao Zhan, the pretty and sexy VP of my label.”

“Why, because he is the VP of your label?”

That got him a rather hard thrust, hitting right into his prostate, and making him bite into the pillow. 

“Because he is pretty and sexy, which frankly, is a combination that is deadly.”

“I wouldn’t waste my time on him.” he said around the mouthful of pillow. Yibo was coming in stronger now that he knew which spot to hit and with what motion.

“Why?”

“He is never going to give you what you want.”

There was a slight pause before Yibo moved again.

“What do you know about what I want?” 

“Well… I don’t know about what you want, but this is all he can give.”

“And what is that?” Pause. Another hard thrust.

“Fantasy.” He bit out before turning his teeth into his bicep.

“Then maybe he should remember that before asking me – with all the concern of the world in his eyes – how I got this massive thing on my chest.”

Even in the middle of such intense pleasure, those words were like having ice water thrown on his face.

He grunted once and then moved his hand down to hold Yibo’s hips. He stopped impressively quickly.

He took a deep breath to prepare his body for the shutdown that he was about to give it. It was a bit resistant at first, but fell in line without much issue.

He tapped Yibo’s hips, which was enough for Yibo to pull out of him. 

Fuck, that felt emptier than he had expected.

Yibo moved off completely and he sat up, closing his eyes for a moment to get his bearings. 

Then he got off the bed and walked to the bathroom. He ran the shower cold to remind his body that the heat and warmth was gone. And then got dressed and left.

xxxxx


	10. Baby Viper

Part 10

“It’s already 10:30, let’s call it a night, no?” MianMian asked, walking into Xiao Zhan’s office with a take-out box. He had been putting in long hours in the office again. UNIQ had a showcase in Japan coming up, which was at least two days’ worth of activities that required a crazy amount of planning and coordination. Xiao Zhan still had a few other projects with other firms under the Wen Group that he had to manage. As if those were not enough, Wen Xu had gotten into another pickle with the company – an employee who had been fired by Wen Xu around three years ago was now alleging that it was in retaliation for resisting his sexual advances – and, of course, as it always did, the problem had landed squarely in Xiao Zhan’s lap to fix.

In her opinion, Xiao Zhan had dealt with enough of this shit by now to make a kickass attorney specializing in sexual harassment, working for both sides really, because he felt no predilection to believe one side over the other before he had some substantiated evidence. His brother was a dirtbag, that was an established fact. But precisely because it was an established fact, and because there had been at least two instances when the cases had had to be settled out of court – with an undisclosed sum paid to the other side – Wen Xu also occasionally became the target of sexual harassment suits that ended up being money-grabs. Xiao Zhan didn’t want to be the arbitrator of this bullshit, but it inevitably fell to him, both to protect the company’s reputation and to ensure that there was some justice – at least a smidgen of it – meted out when the allegations ended up being true. For true justice, his brother would have to go to jail, but she wasn’t holding her breath for that to happen. The Wens were too powerful to ever face true consequences for their behaviors. The only thing Xiao Zhan did ensure was each time this happened, all expenses related to it came out of his brother’s personal account and not the company’s. His brother allowed it to happen because he didn’t want the issue escalated to their father. Not that Wen Ruohan didn’t know about the cases, but as long as Xiao Zhan took care of it and it went away, he tolerated it.

She had brought plates and utensils from the office kitchen and now split the take-out equally.

He was still on his laptop, typing away, and she moved the plate next to him before taking the opposite chair from him to dig into her food.

She waited until she had eaten at least two bites before she felt her stomach settled enough to speak. Even then she watched Xiao Zhan’s profile carefully as she said, “I need you to listen to this calmly.”

He stopped typing, but kept his eyes on the screen.

When she didn’t speak again, he asked, his tone surprisingly calm, “You found out what happened?”

She put her chopsticks down and sighed. She shouldn’t have started eating. Now she wasn’t sure the food would digest properly.

She hummed an affirmation.

He finally turned in her direction, an eyebrow raised.

When she didn’t speak, he asked, “Did he fall?”

She shook her head.

“It wasn’t an accident?”

She shook her head again.

“Someone did that to him on purpose?”

She hesitated for a moment before she nodded.

She could see those eyes change in the blink of an eye. She had seen this happen many times in the past, but it still unnerved her when he did that. Any warmth in his expression was gone and his eyes just turned cold. Merciless.

“Who?”

She was quiet.

“Wen Xu?”

She was quiet again.

“Are you going to make me keep asking you questions?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.

She pursed her lips for a moment before she pulled out her phone and pulled up the video clip that she had finally unearthed, from the grainy gym CCTV. He sat back and watched and she watched him. She had seen the clip several times. It was one of their private gyms and that day it had only been Yibo and Wenhan working out there together. About a half hour into their workout, Wen Xu had arrived with his girlfriend. The boys had nodded a greeting in their direction, but had otherwise paid them no attention. They had been doing weights anyways and Wen Xu and his girlfriend had gone to the machines. It was evident soon enough though that the girlfriend was sneaking glances at Yibo often enough to not go unnoticed. Part of it almost seemed an effort to make Wen Xu jealous. Yibo, God bless his obliviousness, seemed entirely unaware of the psychosexual drama unfolding behind him. Hell, even Wenhan seemed to notice what was happening. The boys eventually moved onto bench pressing and Wenhan had been spotting Yibo when Wen Xu had suddenly approached them, ushering Wenhan aside to take over. Yibo’s expression couldn’t be seen in the video, but Wenhan seemed taken aback.

She held her breath now and watched Xiao Zhan’s face. His jaw clenched suddenly and she knew that he had finally seen the part where Wen Xu had abruptly let go off the barbell when it was several inches off Yibo’s chest. She could hear Yibo’s groan in pain even through the phone and cringed just like she had all the other times she had watched it. The simultaneous gasp from the actress and Li Wenhan could be heard too.

“I’m going to fucking kill him.” she heard and looked up in shock.

Xiao Zhan rarely reacted with anger at the shit that his brother did. He took it in, whatever it was that Wen Xu had done, with that coldness of his that he reserved especially for the men in his family, and then dealt with it. But she had always wondered if he was just enabling Wen Xu’s behavior with his ability to magically make shit go away. Wen Xu had only gotten worse with time. And as much as he permitted Xiao Zhan’s little punishments – really because Wen Xu had no other option - it did not deter him from anything that he wanted to do.

“Xiao Zhan.” She called when he didn’t look up from the phone screen even though the video had already played out.

He took a deep breath before nodding and giving the phone back to her, the anger now gone and the coldness back. “Send me a copy of that clip.”

“Okay.” She took the phone back.

He closed his laptop and looked at his plate of food, grabbing the chopsticks.

“Wenhan didn’t tell anyone?” he asked, swirling his chopsticks into the noodles.

She shook her head. “No. Neither did Yibo. Only the group members and their coach know that he even has a bruise and Yibo’s story is that the barbell slipped out of his own hand. He has been getting some ribbing for it from the other brothers. Yibo has probably sworn poor Wenhan to secrecy to not say anything. The coach made Yibo see the doctor. They had an x-ray done too. No major damage. It will heal.”

Xiao Zhan took a bite of the noodles and chewed absently, staring off at a speck of something on the table.

“How…” she started, wondering if she should even ask. As close as they were, when he was in this sort of a mood, she would suddenly become weirdly conscious of the fact that he was her boss. And this was a part of his personality that had always been a mystery. Although given the family that he came from, she guessed she would be more surprised if he didn’t have this sort of a side to him. How else would he survive in a pit of vipers without being a baby viper himself?

“How did you know about the bruise? The coach was surprised when I asked him. He must have thought the doctor told me.” She finally finished the question.

Xiao Zhan shrugged. And went back to eating. She didn’t press.

He was in a weird sort of mood after that. She filled him in with the details of a few events that were coming up. Aside from nodding here and there, he seemed preoccupied. But she knew he was listening. He was a master at partitioning his mind to do eight things at once.

When they were almost done with the food, he spoke again. “I don’t ever want Yibo alone with Wen Xu again. And I also need you to find me some information on that actress.”

She nodded. She imagined that the actress’s days as the Wen Xu’s girlfriend just got numbered. Wen Xu would have dumped her anyway. But whenever Xiao Zhan got involved, and he had had to a few times in the past when Wen Xu had made some spectacularly bad choices in bedmates, the break-up had happened with great expediency with Wen Xu none the wiser.

“Wen Xu is a huge problem.” She said out loud, almost to herself.

She only seemed to become aware of what she said after the fact and then she raised her eyes in apology in her boss’ direction. After all, Wen Xu was still his family.

“He is, isn’t he?” Xiao Zhan asked, now finally smiling.

She smiled back, a bit awkwardly, because she didn’t know what his smile meant.

“He might have to be retired prematurely.” He shook his head with a put-upon sigh.

“You’re not going to kill him, are you?” she asked in alarm before she could stop herself.

“Kill him?” he gave a short laugh. “Where’s the fun in that?” he raised an eyebrow, sitting back.

“Fuck Xiao Zhan, you scare me sometimes.” She murmured, although she smiled too, because the warmth was back in his eyes.

“That’s good. That’s good.” He said, nodding. “Half the power is in keeping people on their toes. Even when they know you better than most.”

She tilted her head, the smile disappearing.

He smiled again. “I’m kidding! I’m not going to kill anyone. But if I do, I will certainly run it by you first, alright?” his grin now toothy and infectious and she smiled back too, although she couldn’t help the niggle of something in the back of her head.

xxxxxx


	11. Did it hurt?

Part 11

“Yaaa! Stop it!” he heard the yelp as he walked into UNIQ’s training room. Cho Seungyoun was pulling on a beanie on Yibo’s head, which Yibo was trying to hold onto. Wenhan was sitting off to the side, his hat dipped down and covering his face. Yixuan and Sungjoo were next to the laptop, watching their last practice.

They all turned when he walked in, Yibo walking over to Wenhan to tap him on his shoulder to wake him up, Cho Seungyoun greeting him with a loud, “Zhan Geeee.”

He gave a quick glance around at everyone, his gaze lingering nowhere, and smiled.

It was just a day before they had to leave for Japan and he knew they were stressed. He figured they needed to hear some good news before they left.

MianMian and Wen Ning entered with two trays of UNIQ-coach approved food behind him. Cho Seungyoung immediately ran behind them, yelling over his shoulder, “How did you know I was starving?? Oh, you’ll live a thousand years, Zhan ge!”

“I hardly want to live a 100, much less a thousand, but your gratitude is appreciated.” He mused with a smile as the rest of the group made their way to the food as well. He waited as they all got food and he couldn’t help but notice that Yibo’s plate still had the least, although Wenhan kept trying to put more on Yibo’s plate until Yibo had to hold his hand to get him to stop. A look passed between the two that made him wonder whether they had a history. Even beyond Wenhan being the sole witness to what happened to Yibo in the gym.

He shook his head slightly and reminded himself that Yibo’s romantic and/or sexual history was not his concern. That wasn’t why he was here.

Once everyone wandered over to the chairs off to one side of the studio and started eating, he pulled a chair up next to them himself. MianMian and Wen Ning left, closing the door behind them.

“Keep eating while I talk. I want to give you guys some news before the rest of the company finds out. You guys will be in Japan when the official announcement comes out, so I wanted to tell you in person.”

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Yibo and Wenhan had stopped eating. Wenhan, in particular, he now noticed, looked like he hadn’t slept well in a few days. He had not really thought of how difficult this would have been for Wenhan, the fact that he had only been able to watch and not do anything to help his teammate. And then, not tell another soul. Especially if his hunch was correct and the two had some sort of intimate history.

“Is it good news?” Cho Seungyoun asked.

Xiao Zhan had the wherewithal to not give an honest answer to that. Instead, he just chose the diplomatic one. No one really needed to know any more of the Wen Politics than absolutely necessary.

“It’s news. Whether it’s good, I guess that depends.”

This time no one asked anything more, just waiting to hear what he had to day.

He didn’t want to cause them indigestion by keeping them waiting, so he said without much more preamble, “Wen Entertainment has a new CEO.”

Yibo went still, while Wenhan gave a start. The rest of the boys put their chopsticks down and leaned forward in interest.

The door opened just then and in came his mother with her impeccable timing.

She had always had a svelte figure, but the cancer and the chemo had done its fair share of damage. In the year since she had gone into remission, her figure had mostly recovered, but it was still a shade too skinny to be truly svelte, but she was getting there. She used it to her advantage though, bringing on a designer and seamstress and commissioning them to recreate the entire wardrobe of qipao dresses worn by [Maggie Cheung in The Mood for Love](https://i2.wp.com/www.inkmagazinevcu.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/In-the-Mood-for-Love-042.jpg). He had tried one on, at her insistence, when the 20-something piece wardrobe had been finished. They really were a work of art. The prints were different from the movie, but the styles were exact. The collar was essentially unforgiving to wear for any extended length of time, and it had been ill-fitting on him given his absence of any manner of flesh that would fill out a bra, but on her, the dresses looked magnificent. She said the collar and the lack of mobility – given how form-fitting the dresses were – were but a small price to pay for how it made her feel when she wore them. And once he had convinced her to take on this position, she had decided that Su Li Zhen’s secretary outfits were the perfect ensemble for the new CEO of Wen Entertainment.

She swept in now, her tall heels clicking on the wooden slats of the studio, and he smiled in pride. There was a bit of padding both in the front and the back to give her figure more of the S curve than her body could currently muster, and it served to hold that spine of hers long and steady as she made her first foray into the business world, even though she held considerable shares in almost all of the Wen holdings.

When there was no reaction from the boys, he turned to look at them. All of their jaws were hanging open, Sungjoo’s literally. Yibo’s expression was one of surprise, but his gaze was trained on him now rather than his mother. For a moment, he wondered if Yibo knew that he knew what happened, but then figured, it didn’t matter. As long as his safety could be ensured, it didn’t matter what Yibo thought he knew.

“Oh, look at you all.” She started, her excitement showing, and he caught her eye before she went any further.

She rolled her eyes and looked at the boys again. “I’ve been warned by your VP to not comment on your looks and make you uncomfortable. But consider me a fan, alright? I mean, what is this, like an idol group full of visuals?”

He heard the giggles (tf?) from the boys behind him, but kept his eyes on her, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.

She wrinkled her nose at his expression and said, “Yes, yes, I’m also your new CEO, so let’s work well together, yea?”

She left it as a question and he turned to see the boys all nod and smile.

Okay, so she needed a bit – a lot – more training before they took this public next week. You needed more than a wardrobe to be a CEO. But she was a naturally powerful woman and her upbringing had done little to dissuade that part of her. He just had to teach her to channel that in a bit more palatable way. And also, to not come on to their employees, even in her own sweet, harmless way. At least, he hoped she was going to go with sweet and harmless flirting and not full-blown seduction. What was it with his family and sex? It was like they were all sexual deviants, in one way or the other.

“Yibo, come here baby, let me see what happened to your chest?” She said then, and he almost fell out of his chair.

He looked back at Yibo and saw that both his eyes and all the boys’ eyes were widened in disbelief. Wenhan’s eyes looked like they were about to fall off its sockets.

Dear fucking crazy… _Hell_. He wondered now if he had merely replaced Wen Xu, the time bomb, with Xiao Sanren, the nuclear weapon.

He couldn’t override her request without openly questioning her authority and that was definitely not a precedent he wanted to set, at least in public. Hierarchy was important, at least as long as hierarchy existed.

But he couldn’t very well have Yibo take off his shirt for her either.

Fuck.

“Mom, why don’t I check for you?” he stood up, intercepting and giving her another look.

It was incredible that it took that for her to realize the inappropriateness of her request.

“Oh, of course.” She said to him before looking at the rest of them and smiling, “Sometimes I forget that I’m not everyone’s mother.” She said easily now, making the boys smile once more.

Yibo walked to his side as his mom started chatting the rest of the boys up. She was a natural social butterfly and good at putting people at ease, as long as people got used to her rather no-holds-barred nature.

He wasn’t really going to check Yibo’s chest in front of all these people. He hadn’t finished that thought before Yibo was pulling off his shirt.

 _Oh_. Ok.

He closed his eyes before he could really think of how that came across. And then opened them as soon as he did. Yibo had a smirk on his face.

His eyes dropped to the chest though, the bruise faded but still there. Without thinking – yet again – he raised a hand to touch gently.

“Did it hurt?” he heard himself ask, grazing his fingertips against Yibo’s skin softly.

Yibo’s breath hitched and when he looked up, those eyes were so filled with something that he closed his eyes again.

“Not as much as it did when you left.” Yibo whispered.

_What a bad idea this had been._

He opened his eyes and looked at Yibo again, not wanting such an open show of weakness on his part to be the last word between them.

“Put your shirt back on.” He whispered back.

Yibo heeded the request, but just as he was putting the shirt back on, he asked, “You found out who did it, didn’t you?”

Xiao Zhan shook his head.

“Liar.” It sounded like an endearment on Yibo’s tongue.

Xiao Zhan shrugged.

“Come on, you got your brother removed as CEO because he did this to me…”

He didn’t let Yibo finish before he interrupted. “I definitely _did not_. He left of his own accord for entirely different reasons.”

This time it was Yibo who shrugged as if he didn’t believe it but also didn’t need to be convinced one way or the other.

“You have some crazy high opinion of yourself, don’t you?” he asked Yibo, stepping back.

Yibo didn’t answer, but looked taken aback by his tone.

He collected himself before he said more, but then he didn’t have to, because the door opened again, and a tall man in a suit walked in. Taller even than Xiao Zhan. He carried his height and the suit effortlessly. He was suave, but in a sincere sort of way rather than that too-sleek-and-polished sort of way. He was also Xiao Zhan’s first crush, which he had nursed quite faithfully from his 13th birthday to his 18th year.

Haikuan was 3 years older than him and had thus waited until Xiao Zhan’s 18th birthday to ask him out. They had gone on one date and it had been perfect, the best date that he had to date. Even back then, he had known that one shouldn’t ruin something that perfect. Where did you go from perfect? Nowhere. In some sense, Haikuan hadn’t just ruined him for Haikuan, but for everyone else too. And so, he had told Haikuan that he wanted to stay friends. And Haikuan had accepted that. Mature as Haikuan had been, even back then, he had seemed to understand things that Xiao Zhan didn’t understand himself. “If you ever change your mind, you know my number.” He had said. Xiao Zhan had nodded. Given how long he had nursed the crush, it was entirely possible that he would change his mind. And so, he had lost Haikuan’s number. They ran in the same circles, though - Haikuan’s mother was friends with his own – and thus had still seen each other from time to time, and because he liked him so much, Xiao Zhan had never called Haikuan again. Until three weeks ago, that is. Haikuan was the perfect person to become his mother’s right hand at Wen Entertainment. She needed someone sensible by her side. Someone to help her use her power wisely. Keep her worst impulses curbed. Someone Xiao Zhan trusted implicitly.

“There you are, Haikuan! I was just getting to know these boys. What a truly delightful bunch they are. Xiao Zhan really knows to pick them, eh?” she said, easily laying all the credit at his door. His mother was a master at that. One reason Wen Xu despised her so much.

“This was all Wen Xu, mom. I only found out once he signed them.” He reminded her.

She shrugged as if it mattered not. In her eyes, Wen Xu just sort of… did not exist. Only when he made her aware of something Wen Xu had done - either good or bad - did she acknowledge that she had another son.

“Either way, this is Liu Haikuan everyone. Graduate of Tsinghua SEM. Tons of experience in the industry. He is the best person in the world, frankly. I mean, after my son, of course. No offense, Haikuan dear.”

“Oh, none taken. I agree with you.”

Haikuan said that so easily that it took them all a moment to realize what he had said. His mother laughed, as if nothing else Haikuan could have said would have pleased her more. The boys smiled, although God knew what they were thinking. And he felt himself flush from the unexpected compliment.

“Fuck Haikuan.” He heard Yibo mutter next to him. “Just bring Wen Xu back.”

xxxx


	12. Jackass

Part 12

He hadn’t’ been planning on going with them, but that’s how it ended up in the end. And it wasn’t even Wang Yibo who convinced him to do so, but Li Wenhan. 

After Haikuan and his mother left after their short greetings – a longer one would have to wait until after the Japan trip and the official announcements - MianMian and Wen Ning returned. The boys had started to practice again and he was in the midst of getting the leftover food and items removed from the studio when Wenhan fell. The fall by itself wasn’t that concerning; they must fall a million times in the midst of practice, but it was how Wenhan looked right after he did. For a moment, he just sat there on the floor covering his face in exhaustion. Yibo kneeled down next to him, purposely pretending to tease him so the rest of them wouldn’t notice what they were both trying to keep under wraps. 

And Xiao Zhan knew then that he couldn’t let them fly with just their manager and crew to Japan. They needed someone from upper management, someone whose physical backing they needed to see as visual proof of their foray into the world once more, this time to conquer and rule. 

He had MianMian book his tickets right then; she had begged him with her eyes and then she was coming too. He sent Wen Ning home shortly thereafter, but MianMian stayed with him as they watched the practice for another two hours before he told them to call it a day. He tried to be casual as he slipped in – as they were packing up – that he would see them in the morning at the airport. 

“You’re coming with us?” Cho Seungyoun asked loudly, echoing the expressions of the rest of them.

“Yea, you didn’t know?” he asked with a tilt of his head, as if this was not new information. He saw MianMian roll her eyes in the back at his acting. 

He glanced in Wenhan’s direction and saw that he looked visibly relieved. And for that he was glad. He didn’t look at Yibo. But then his eyes revolted against his brain and grazed over Yibo anyways. Yibo’s gaze was warm. Grateful. As if he had deduced from Xiao Zhan’s glance at Wenhan that this was for his sake. Before his own gaze softened in response, he looked back at the other boys. Cho Seungyoun was whistling, in a much peppier mood now and Sungjoo and Yixuan seemed brighter too. 

He said his goodbyes to them before leaving with MianMian. He had to drop her off first before heading home.

She waited until they had been in the car for a few minutes before asking, “So, I’ve been holding off without asking hoping that you would bring it up yourself. But seeing as how you’re not going to do that…”

He gave her a brief side-eye and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh come on! How is Wen Xu taking it?” 

“Well enough. He is in Switzerland for a few months. And when he comes back, he will take over as VP of Sanren multiplexes.”

He saw MianMian’s head whip around at that news.

“How did… you convince your father to agree to that?” 

“Me? I had nothing to do with it. Mother did.”

She waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. 

“Your mom?” she asked.

He nodded.

To make someone like Wen Xu give up his role of Wen Entertainment’s CEO required a bigger and better carrot dangling in front of him. Xiao Zhan simply did not have the power to snap and make his brother do his bidding. To figure out which one of the Wen Group’s holdings Wen Xu could slip into that would give him a generous enough title to seem like an upgrade from the current one required careful consideration. Number one criterion was that it had to be a larger enterprise than Wen Entertainment. Number two, it had to already be running like a well-oiled machine so that his brother couldn’t mess it up if he tried. Number three, his brother needed to be under his father. Sometime between the last two sexual harassment cases and Yibo, Xiao Zhan had decided that he was done being Wen Xu’s keeper. It was time to pass the problem onto his father. 

Sanren mulitiplexes were an entity unto itself, but also managed by one of the Wen boards. His mother was the majority shareholder. It was the perfect setup to put an automatic cap on Wen Xu’s power. Once he came up with the plan, he had to get his mother to buy into it and then approach his father. She made so few requests of him, especially related to the business, that when she did have an opinion, his father paid attention. Xiao Zhan had coached her on the basic plan, but the actual power of persuasion had been all hers. And his father had delivered the news to Wen Xu himself, which had been one of Xiao Zhan’s requirements too. 

All that happened had occurred in such a roundabout way that his brother had not suspected his own involvement in it. Given the way his father had presented the news to Wen Xu, at least some aspect of all the harassment suits against him must have come through. 

The amount of plotting he had to do for anything to move in any direction was beyond ridiculous.

“Xiao Zhan…” MianMian called now, her voice somewhat hesitant.

He turned in her direction.

“Why did you decide to do something now?” 

He looked at her in confusion. “I thought we agreed on that point at least. I believe your exact words were, _Wen Xu is a huge problem_.”

“Yea, but I’ve said that before. We have known that for ages. He has given you way worse headaches before, legally. And otherwise too. So… why now?”

“Buildup?” he asked flippantly, but smiling.

“Not Yibo?” she asked in return.

His smile dimmed. “What about Yibo?”

She paused and waited a few moments before speaking again. “You know what, never mind. I can tell from your voice already that you’ve gotten defensive."

“I’m not defensive.” He remarked immediately, then sighed, and tried again. “I’m not defensive. But I do want to ask why you think it has to do with Yibo.”

_Was he that fucking transparent?_

“You just seemed so angry when you watched that clip.”

“Weren’t you?”

“Yea, but that’s me. You are always somewhat more methodical than the rest of us. Immediately going into damage control mode.”

“What are you saying?” he asked.

“You rarely react to such things with anger, Xiao Zhan. You’re rarely emotional about these things. It’s a bit cold to watch, but it’s also what makes you so great at what you do.”

He felt his nostrils flare. There were already too many tells on his face and his behavior where Yibo was concerned. And that was just from hitting the sack three times. 

“Do you like him?”

“Who?”

“Wang Yibo.”

_Don’t be defensive._

“As much as you like him.”

“That’s a lot.” MianMian said in excitement.

He smiled. “So you would have done the same thing.”

“Well, that depends on what you did.” She turned to him with a wicked smile.

“Ah… touché.” He said, smiling back.

And because he couldn’t leave well enough alone, he said, “Besides, Liu Haikuan is much more my type.”

MianMian’s head whipped around. “Oh, don’t tell me he’s gay!”

“As the day he’s born.” He grinned. 

“Damn! He is so fine! Why are all the fine men gay?” 

“Please! You guys have way more options than us! Let us have a few hotties too.”

“Ah, so you think he’s a hottie! Wait, are you seriously into him?”

He smiled but didn’t offer a verbal answer one way or the other.

And then MianMian wanted to know all about Liu Haikuan.

As far as deflections went, Liu Haikuan worked better than he had hoped. Besides, Liu Haikuan was openly gay and the rest of what he said wasn’t untrue either. Liu Haikuan was certainly more his type than Wang Yibo was. And he was hot. Not as hot as Yibo. But really who was? But that was neither here nor there. 

xxxx

They all slept on the plane ride to Japan. The first day of events started soon after with barely a moment to breathe before they ran through their schedule. That night’s concert was solid too and, even though he had been nervous about Wenhan, he seemed to have recovered well, particularly by the time the stage events came to an end and they returned to the hotel. 

Xiao Zhan and MianMian had single rooms. The boys were paired up, Cho Seungyoun with Yibo, Wenhan with Sungjoo, and Yixuan with their manager. The second day was just as hectic, although much smoother in transitions, and then it was over. Their flights back to Beijing weren’t until the following evening, which gave the boys, staff, and crew time to sleep in the morning after and explore a bit before they headed back. 

He and MianMian were flying back at noon; there were too many things pending on his table given his impromptu trip to Japan, not to mention his father was in town and had indicated that he would like a family dinner that evening. He was _really_ looking forward to that.

He set his alarm for 6 so that he could go for a run before breakfast, but woke up to someone knocking at his door at 5. He peered through the peephole groggily and found Yibo standing at the other end. For a moment, he considered not opening the door. But when the knock sounded again, he opened it.

“What?” he asked, standing at the entrance without letting Yibo in.

Yibo didn’t say anything but pursed his lips.

“Go back Yibo.” He said, taking a step back inside to close the door.

“Thanks.” Yibo said, coming in through the opening and shutting the door behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, turning around.

“Can’t I come see you?” 

“No.” he shook his head, turning back around to walk into the room.

“I promise I won’t touch you.” Yibo said then, quietly, and Xiao Zhan stopped walking.

“Then why are you here?” he asked, turning back and leaning against the wall behind him.

He looked at Yibo, _always a mistake_ , because at the moment, he looked like a kicked puppy.

Xiao Zhan grit his teeth and hardened his heart against the clenching in his gut.

“You think I’m only good for sex?” Yibo asked.

“Did you come here at 5 in the morning to work on some praise kink with me?” He asked, turning again to walk into the room. He was entering into full-blown douchebag territory. But this had to be nipped now. It had already grown too much. Especially if Yibo thought it was okay to show up at his room at the crack of dawn.

“Why are you so fucking mean?” Yibo asked, his voice sounding far away. Xiao Zhan walked to the window side of the room to pull up one slat of the blinds to see the blue light of dawn spreading over Nagoya. It really was a beautiful sight and for a moment, he stood there, absorbing it in.

When he thought he was calm enough, he spoke, not turning back to look at Yibo. “I was born this way. I have no intention of being any other way. For anyone. I think you mistook the personality you paid for for my real one.”

“Is it because of that hotshot business executive that your mother hired?”

Xiao Zhan fought the urge to scoff. 

“You speak as if we have a relationship that is contingent on the presence or absence of anyone else in my life. _We don’t_. Our relationship is than of an employer and employee. Who I date in my real life in thus none of your concern. It would behoove you to remember that the next time you want to sneak in a visit at 5 in the morning.”

He glanced at Yibo briefly to see if he had been antagonized enough.

For a moment, he was sure that he would rather cut out his own heart than see that expression on Yibo’s face again. 

But then the weakness passed. His good sense intercepted just in time before he ruined his work. 

“Fuck you!” Yibo said, angry now. “And since you’re so hell bent on being an asshole, I’m going to see if I can be one too.”

Xiao Zhan raised an eyebrow.

“I may not be as pretty as you, but I think I’m hot enough to seduce Liu Haikuan.”

What the fuck. That went _not_ in the direction he had been expecting.

Xiao Zhan laughed out loud. “That’s your remedy? You’re going to seduce Liu Haikuan?”

Yibo tilted his head. “Is he a top or a bottom? Or have you not hit that yet?” 

“Excuse the fuck out of me?”

“Oh, I won’t be fucking anything out of you. Jackass.”

And then Yibo was gone.

_What the fuck just happened?_

xxxxxxx


	13. Family Dinner - with UNIQ

Part 13

“I thought this was a family dinner.” He asked his mother, irate. 

“Seriously, you want to do family dinner? With just the three of us?” She asked as if the mere suggestion would kill her appetite.

He took a deep breath and turned away to look out the window of the tea room. He could see the large gate of the mansion from here, which still blessedly remained closed. 

“Is this why he postponed the dinner? So that he could have them over?” This dinner was supposed to have happened three weeks ago, just the family part, but his father had postponed it.

His mother shrugged. 

“Mom!” he blurted out in frustration.

She looked at him in surprise. “Why are you freaking out?”

He tried to take a few deep breaths to calm his fucking head down. 

“He just wants to meet them.” She said. He could see in the mirror to this side that she was watching him carefully.

“He has never shown any interest in any aspect of Wen Entertainment before, much less any interest in meeting any of the idols groups managed by us. You don’t think this is strange?”

His mother shrugged again. “You have to admit though, we have not managed anyone who has the kind of potential that UNIQ has. Wen Xu has traditionally gone for the dime-a-dozen girl groups that held his fancy. When has he ever picked an actual winner? I mean, this one could really be the next big thing if we play our cards correctly. Showcase them well. I mean, why can’t they be the next EXO?”

“EXO is still making albums, mom. We don’t need another EXO. We just need UNIQ to be UNIQ; not as the next somebody else.”

He caught his mother’s eyes in the mirror again and saw her smile as she watched him. 

“You know why I know they’re going to make it?”

“Because they’re talented?”

“There’s a lot of talent in the world that never sees the light of day. Hell, they themselves had a hit six years ago that faded into oblivion.”

He turned to look at her now rather than just through the mirror.

“They’re going to make it because you are the one in charge. And whether you want to admit it or not, you’re personally invested.”

He fought another scream of frustration. If anyone else tried to tell him one more time that he was into Yibo, he was going to blow up.

He kept his cool though – somewhat – as he asked, “How am I personally invested?”

She raised an eyebrow as if this should be self-evident. “A’Zhan, I know that you know that your father knows that it was you who got Wen Xu out. He doesn’t for a second believe that I suddenly developed an interest in the company or in what Wen Xu has been up to.”

He had to say, as much as he was not a fan of his brother, hearing his mother so openly admit her disinterest in her older son made him feel a bit sad. Like Wen Xu never even had a chance. 

He stayed quiet though, knowing that she wasn’t done yet. 

“He also knows that I’m just a figure-head CEO. You are the one pulling all the chains.”

“You can veto any decision I make. I can only offer my opinions.”

“Why would I veto any decision you make? I only did this for you.”

He tried not to openly sigh. 

“Which basically means that UNIQ is your first chance to prove to the world that Wen Entertainment is a serious player and not just a cover-up for auditioning to be Wen Xu’s next playmate.”

He snorted. “When you put it that way, I’m surprised you let me be its VP for this long.”

“If not for you, Wen Entertainment would have gone belly up a long time ago. I know that, your father knows that. Everyone knows that.”

“Then why did dad let the company stay afloat for so long?” 

She shrugged again. “I don’t proclaim to know the workings of your father’s head.”

“But you do.”

“To some degree.” she admitted. “If I were to take a guess, I think he wanted to see what you could do with it given the incredible odds you faced with Wen Xu on top of you.”

He scoffed at that. “You think Wen Entertainment was dad’s little pet project to test my mettle?”

She shrugged, yet again.

“Mom, all this shrugging doesn’t give me any answers.”

She narrowed her eyes at him curiously.

“You are not unruffled, dear.” she said after a long moment.

It took him a moment to place when she had last said that to him. When he had told her, _I remain unruffled_.

“That is neither here nor there.” He said, turning back to the window. The gate opened and he felt his heart stop for a second. And then it resumed beating when he saw that it was Liu Haikuan’s black Bentayga pulling in.

Of course, Liu Haikuan would be here too. 

“Haikuan just arrived.” He said, turning back around.

His mother smiled. “I think he still has a little crush on you.” 

He raised both eyebrows and sat back against the window ledge. “He’ll get over it.”

“Why?” she asked. 

“What do you mean why?”

“Why didn’t you give him a chance? You were so besotted with him for so many years. And then boom, you turn 18 and you’re over it. Did he do something?”

“Mom, you know he is a sweetheart. What would he do?” 

“Ah, so you admit it. He is a sweetheart. Then why aren’t you with him? He clearly adored you too.”

He turned his head sideways, eyes out the window, watching Haikuan get out of his car. He was dressed in a pair of chinos and a polo shirt today, still looking as good as ever. If not more.

“It’s complicated.” He said, watching the valet approach him for the keys.

“You think he’s too nice for you, don’t you?” his mother asked. 

He didn’t answer, keeping his eyes on Haikuan. Is that what it was? Haikuan was too nice for him? Maybe… Whenever he was with Haikuan, he wanted to be good. Put his best side forward. But he had realized that he couldn’t live like that. Part of him was not good. And he had made his peace with it. It would be exhausting to pretend to be something he was not all the time. No matter how much he liked the other person.

As he watched Haikuan chat it up with the valet – they knew each other from Haikuan’s occasional visits to the mansion – the gate opened again. This time it was a stretch limo that pulled in. He kept his breathing steady when his heart started hammering in his chest. 

He watched the limo crawl to a stop right behind Haikuan’s car as he heard his mother ask, “The boys are here too, aren’t there?”

Well, she had carried him in her womb for 9 months and then endured 36 hours of labor to push him out. It only followed that she could read him like a freaking book, steady breathing or not.

He gave a slight nod.

“So my baby’s here.” She said in excitement as she got off the teal chaise and joined him at the window.

He looked at her now, at the open enthusiasm on her face, and said, “Your baby is right here.”

She looked at him and tapped him gently on his cheek. “You’re my first baby. That’s the second one.” She looked back down just in time to see Yibo get out of the limo, right behind Seungyoun and Wenhan.

“Your first baby is in Switzerland. In exile for bad behavior. Your second baby is here, faced with the prospect of a family dinner with his gargoyle of a father, flirt of a mother, his first crush, and an entire idol group as witnesses.” 

She laughed happily, her eyes crinkling, as if all of what he said did not bother her in the least. “Okay, then that is my third baby.” She said, looking out the window yet again.

He watched the top of their heads and saw the boys look around at the grounds. It was a lot to take in. Yibo didn’t seem interested in the same, but noticed Haikuan and walked over, offering a wide smile and a greeting.

Since when did [Yibo smile widely](https://pa1.narvii.com/7245/861832fe19b40b5085f68ad5954362fa39fbbe2dr1-480-325_00.gif)? Asshole.

“Oh, how cute does he look today?” His mom mused, as if she didn’t notice that Yibo was turning his charms on the unsuspecting Haikuan.

Yibo’s hair was full-on boyish floppy today, the top covering almost all of his forehead in wispy brown perfection. [He had on](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ff/8a/43/ff8a435d48672159fee4a4dd322e5249.jpg) a pair of light stonewashed jeans and a button-down cotton white shirt inserted into the jeans. 

He watched as poor Haikuan slipped and fell easily into Yibo’s web, his surprise at Yibo’s greeting turning into a sweet smile. 

“You’re grinding your teeth, dear.” His mother said casually, still taking in the scene unfolding downstairs.

“I think I’ll skip dinner.” He said, turning away from the window and walking to the door.

His mother just laughed. When he opened the door, she called out, “Make sure you look good enough to die for.”

He smiled when he heard that. At least she knew where her loyalties lay, Haikuan and Yibo be damned.

xxxxxx


	14. The Plan to Seduce Haikuan

Part 14

[Readers, A brief word, if I may. Given that Xiao Zhan is quite versatile in how he looks (both in this fiction and in real life), I like to occasionally look up photos (of both of them, as you may have noticed) to set the mood for what I’m writing. For this chapter (and this fiction in general really), this is the guy. Now, if you have already imagined other versions of Xiao Zhan, feel free to keep doing so (obviously you don’t need my permission for that). But for those who want to get into my head, [here it is](https://data.whicdn.com/images/334202448/original.jpg).]

On that note, let this dinner (well, pre-dinner in this chapter) commence.

He stood in front of the closet, looking through his clothes. He could see Yibo in mind, in his white button-down shirt, snug jeans, floppy hair, and all-over wholesome goodness bullshit. Then he cared not to dress up, but to dress to cross. And so it was that he walked out of his closet with a pair of black skintight jeans (like this shit was not going to come off unless someone was hellbent on peeling it off of him, which given his mood, no one was going to for a while) and an oversized black button-down shirt (that he was not going to insert, but even if he wanted to, his jeans wouldn’t cooperate). He rolled his sleeves up to his elbow. There was enough skin on display to show off his collarbone. He added a thin black rope choker around his neck and a black aviator cuff on his wrist, really only to enhance the twisting veins on his forearms and the jut of his Adam’s apple. His hair was half up/half down again, with a fair amount of fringe framing his face. His feet were bare and he intended to keep it that way. He gave a final look at himself in the mirror and thought that he looked like a tame version of Sexy Goth. Goth was too much, really, any self-respecting Goth would kill him for saying that, but then again, they would also kill to look like he did at the moment. His father was going to have a fit when he saw the whole thing, especially with company around, even if they were idols and Haikuan. 

He couldn’t wait.

His mother raised an eyebrow when she saw him come down the stairs, but then smiled and blew him a kiss. She approved. But then again, she lived for sexy _anything_. She snuck up behind him in the kitchen and whispered, “So, which boy are you trying to make jealous with this look?" Then she thought better of it and amended, "Although… maybe you are shooting for both?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said in answer.

“You will, when you father keels over from apoplexy.”

He pff-ed at that. “As if that’s all it’s going to take to kick him off this mortal coil.”

“True.” She mused as she slipped her hand through his elbow and they walked out of the kitchen.

“Where is dad anyways?” he asked.

“Still on a business call upstairs. He will be down in about an hour for dinner.”

“And the… guests?” he asked, looking towards the dining room where he could see the kitchen staff still in the process of setting up for dinner.

“They are in the sunroom.”

Their sunroom was rather large with a lot of furniture and lined with a variety of plants that their gardener chose carefully – he and his mother had no eye or thumb for selecting and caring for plants, thus, they were all the more appreciative of their gardener’s efforts – with vines trailing all through the ceiling-posts. 

He could hear the chatter even before he got there, murmurings of conversation offset by peals of laughter and guffaws, courtesy of Seungyoun, Wenhan, and Sungjoo. 

From the sliding door to the sunroom, he could see that there were a fair number of appetizers, cocktails and wines set up on the table in the middle. Seungyoun and Wenhan were sitting on the floor right next to the table, picking at the crudité platter. Yixuan and Sungjoo were on one of the loveseats on one side and Yibo and Haikuan were on the loveseat on the other side. 

They all looked up now, everyone except Yibo smiling widely in greeting. 

“Dang Xiao Zhan, I didn’t know you were a sexy young’un. Those suits sure do hide a lot, don’t they?” Seungyoun asked.

“You didn’t know my son was a sexy beast? How is that even possible?” his mother asked and he thanked the Good Lord that the present company was as small in number as they were. The boys had gotten used to his mother’s brand of humor as they hardly batted an eye now and laughed instead.

“Haikuan, you knew, right?” she asked, posing the question directly.

Haikuan had the good grace to flush, but he said, “I don’t know about the beast part, but the other one sounds about right.”

“Oh, the beast part is true too.” Yibo muttered next to Haikuan, drawing the notice of the rest of them.

Xiao Zhan gave him a look, both for the comment and Yibo’s gall to say it in front of all these people.

As if he realized only then what he had admitted, Yibo’s ears turned red. The boys were looking at him strangely. Before things got awkward though, his mother – with her Yibo-bias advertised to the world loud and clear – said, “See, so between the two of you, you agree with me.” 

She turned to Xiao Zhan. “It’s official. You ARE a sexy beast.”

“Mother.” He said, hoping it sounded like a warning.

“Son.” She answered, indicating she didn’t care. 

They walked into the room, his mother claiming the one-seater at end of the table nearest to Yibo, leaving the one-seater at the other end for him, the one closest to Haikuan. He gave her a look and she raised one of the wine-bottles to him in answer. 

“You want red or white? Or something else?” His mother posed the question to the ether, opening the red first. 

There was a chorus of answers, sounding about equal for red and white. So he grabbed the white one to open, just as Haikuan did the same. Their hands were on top of each other on the bottle for a moment before Haikuan pulled back, smiling that sweet smile of his. Xiao Zhan smiled back on instinct, just like he had always done with Haikuan, but then noticed the stricken expression on Yibo’s face from the periphery of his vision. It made him glance over at Yibo briefly. 

Fuck _his eyes_. 

He felt the choker tighten against his neck and looked back down at the bottle of wine in his hands, not really seeing what he was looking at. A moment later, Haikuan pressed a wine opener to him and his vision came back into focus. 

Kostas Rind

2017

Chardonnay

Oh good. He could still read. Yibo’s sexy hurt eyes didn’t make him go fucking blind.

Besides, how dare he look hurt? Hadn’t he announced that he was going to seduce Haikuan? 

As if he just remembered that promise, Yibo reached over and pulled an errant piece of thread off of Haikuan’s sleeve. When it didn’t rip off right away, he bent over to use his teeth to tear it off, his lower lip touching Haikuan’s bare arm in the process. Xiao Zhan heard Haikuan’s slight intake of breath and held himself still, watching. Yibo raised his eyes and smiled at Haikuan as if this was completely normal fucking behavior. And then, Yibo’s eyes strayed to his for a brief moment before passing right on and moving to the boys who were deep in discussion about a choreography for the new single that they were recording. His mother was the only other one who seemed to have noticed the whole exchange. She gave him a look, inscrutable, but then passed a glass of red to poor Haikuan, who definitely looked like he could use a drink.

Haikuan took a sip without really looking at the glass, his eyes a bit glazed over, and a moment later, Xiao Zhan grabbed the glass from him, pressing a glass of white into his hand instead. Haikuan looked over at him, as did Yibo and his mother.

“You prefer white to red. Mom doesn’t know that. You can have this one.”

“I already drank that one though.” He said, pointing at the glass in Xiao Zhan’s hand.

“It’s alright. I can finish it. I like reds.” He said, taking a quick sip out of the glass that Haikuan had drank from before.

He wanted to not look at Yibo to give him the satisfaction, but he did, because he was petty like that, only to see Yibo down almost all of the wine in his glass.

“Oh, slow down honey. You’re going to get drunk without properly enjoying all that we have prepared.” His mother said, tapping Yibo on his knee.

“I have a strong stomach. It’s going to take at least two bottles to put me away.” He said, smiling at her.

“I wouldn’t brag about being a lush.” Xiao Zhan said, sitting back, trying not to roll his eyes.

“No, I was just being humble.” was Yibo’s rejoinder.

His mother laughed. Like threw her head back and laughed. Cackled would be more accurate.

The boys stopped miming choreography moves and looked at her. Yibo stopped drinking and thinking of further ways to torture and sex up the resident sexy beast and looked at her. Haikuan returned from whatever threesome fantasy that had briefly engaged in a coup d’état with his typically monogamous consciousness and looked at her. 

“Fuck, this is going to be one of the best days of my life.” She said through her laughter as she fell back against the couch, the open bottle of red still clutched in her hand.

xxxxx


	15. Haikuan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is a short chapter. I'll have to make it up to you guys.

Part 15 

When Xiao Zhan wasn’t trying to not be like himself, he looked like a fairy. Big eyes with lashes that cast a shadow like fish-tails at the ends, the slightly fuller upper lip that was a bit turned up, giving him a permanent pout, the almost delicate curve of his neck, the tapered and narrow length of his fingers. For a long time, his mother had put him in dresses and Haikuan had thought that he was a girl, until his own mother had corrected his pronoun and said that, no, the pretty girl in dresses was actually a pretty boy in dresses. No one in their little group of friends seemed to mind, neither the moms nor the sons or daughters, which in hindsight told him how special that particular group of friends was. Xiao Zhan’s mother had been so protective of him that there was no way that she would tolerate anyone picking on her son, so she had weeded out the ordinary and only had extraordinary friends. 

In their little play group, there had been no distinction between who played with guns, cars, legos, puzzles, trains, Barbies, or Cabbage Patch kids. It wasn’t unusual to find a Cabbage Patch kid riding the most flaming Hot Wheels with the Barbies alongside toting guns. Although, now that he thought of it, that was probably Xiao Zhan’s doing. As young as he had been, he had been the trendsetter. Not forcefully, like he had established himself as the leader, but more as a kid who was so cool that the other kids emulated out of awe. Like they just liked how his brain bent and twisted and came up with the most wondrous things. Putting things together in ways that always seemed exciting. His mother had always been his number one fan and he had thrived within that lotus of adoration. 

By the time Xiao Zhan had hit puberty, his mother had changed course and had started to put him in boy clothes, almost as if she had suddenly been reminded that the reality out there had not yet caught up with hers. It had been an adjustment for Haikuan to see the girl actually turn into a boy. But while he had always liked Xiao Zhan before, the first inkling of attraction didn’t materialize until their teenager years when Xiao Zhan started to look more and more androgynous, no longer so obviously a girl, but quite a pretty boy. To this day, Xiao Zhan was still the prettiest boy he had ever seen. Although… he looked to his right… this little dynamite with his sinful lips and bedroom eyes was definitely up there too. Objectively speaking though, Yibo was more sexy than pretty. Xiao Zhan was still prettier. Not just pretty, but beautiful. Especially now. Those eyes of his had gotten deeper with all that he tried to hide behind them and it had only added to the allure of their tilt. And that mouth, well that mouth had given him many a wet dream in his teens. 

Xiao Zhan was unconsciously biting on the side of his lower lip now, looking down at the bottle in his hand. 

This was the most spectacularly vicious and exciting display of foreplay that Haikuan had seen in a while, and as sexual as he was, he had seen a ton of it. 

The most surprising part of it was that Xiao Zhan seemed to be entirely unaware of the fact that he was practically vibrating with how much he wanted Yibo. 

Yibo, on the other hand, was not even trying to hide it – Haikuan watched him now, at the way in which Yibo’s eyes glowed and glowered all at the same time when they fell on Xiao Zhan – and felt a tingle all through his spine. He didn’t consider himself jaded when it came to sex, he enjoyed it too much to ever be jaded, but he couldn’t remember the last time he had been witness to this much angsty eye-fucking. He didn’t think he could be at the receiving end of something like this and not scoop up and run off with whoever was looking at him like that. 

Stranger still, they had both chosen him to be the medium through which they engaged in their madcap mating ritual. It was a delicious sort of agony. What he couldn’t be sure of was whether this was just a state of unresolved sexual tension or something that had resolved only to unresolve and resolve and then unresolve again... 

It was a turn-on to see Xiao Zhan this way, not that he had ever had trouble getting turned on whenever Xiao Zhan had been in the vicinity. But this angsty version, this one who didn’t seem to know what to do with all his desire, this one was a different sort of fantasy. Unbidden, his mind’s eye conjured up an image of Xiao Zhan’s legs wrapped around him, his feet clenched up tight and digging into the dimples on his back, those wide eyes looking beyond his straining shoulder to hold Yibo’s heated gaze watching him from a distance. Haikuan shook his head to clear the image when he heard a loud laugh. The fuck was that in his head. He had never had a threesome before. He was too possessive and intentional to ever have one. He needed the other person to be focused on only him, no one else. The energy between these two was fucking with his head. Either that or the one sip of red that he had had had somehow amplified in his bloodstream and gone straight to his dick, making it entertain voyeurism and ménage-trois as its new preferred erogenous madness.

“Fuck, this is going to be one of the best days of my life.” Xiao Zhan’s mother exclaimed, falling back against the couch, her laughter exuberant, as if her son’s discombobulation today was the most delightful thing she had felt in a while. 

That delight was contagious. She caught his gaze suddenly, her eyes crinkling in genuine happiness. He smiled back and her laugh turned into a wide smile. Her gaze turned in the direction of her son briefly and then darted to Yibo. Those two were so busy decimating each other with all the nonverbals in the world that they hardly caught it when she winked in his direction. He wiggled his brows, pursing his lips. 

She grinned now, raising an eyebrow. _You gonna play this game?_

He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow himself. _Well, now that you’ve put me in the middle of it…_

She laughed, raising her bottle to him. _Oh come on, look at him. He’s going to lose his mind._ Her gaze turned briefly to Xiao Zhan again.

This time he grinned. _Should I drive him even crazier?_

She pulled in her lower lip, biting down to control her smile, an unconscious imitation of her son. 

He couldn’t resist as he raised his glass of wine in return. _A toast then to see who breaks first._

_xxxxxxx_


	16. The Wens

Part 16

She watched the tension thrumming through his tall slight frame, the loose shirt doing little to hide the tight coils of his spine and the clench of his muscles – at least to her – and set her glass of wine down on the dining table. She had thought that he was just fighting off an attraction. A strong one, admittedly, but still, just an attraction. But this seemed to be more than that. His glances kept turning to the staircase on occasion, awaiting the arrival of… what had he called him… right, the gargoyle. The Gargoyle of Wen Mansion. Her husband. His father.

He caught himself just as he started to wring his hands and clutched onto the back of the chair that he was standing behind. He was no longer even looking in Yibo’s direction. 

With her blessing, Haikuan had leaned into Yibo’s flirting, encouraging him silently with smiles and looks. For all his bravado to throw himself at Haikuan in front of her son, Yibo seemed almost shy to be at the receiving end of Haikuan’s attention when Xiao Zhan wasn’t watching. The boy was too transparent by half. She adored him for it. But then again, she adored anyone who so plainly adored her son. 

Her son. Who was so careful in his attachments that he pushed away anyone he liked too much. The first and major casualty had been Haikuan. But Xiao Zhan had been young then and she had just assumed that maybe a crush nurtured for that many years simply refused to live up to all that anticipation and expectation. But in the years that followed, his admiration for Haikuan didn’t wane, even though he made no move to do anything about it. Instead, the two relationships that he ended up having, both about a year each and two years apart from each other, ended up being somewhat uninspired and mediocre affairs. Which had made her wonder what her son was really looking for. 

Yibo had certainly been a surprise. For one, Yibo was too pretty by half for Xiao Zhan to ever take any serious interest in. Her son had never shown any penchant for pretty boys before. He liked those muscular chunks of testosterone that quite obviously appreciated how pretty he was in comparison. That was his type, essentially, and Yibo was not that type. But then again, if Yibo showed interest, she couldn’t imagine anyone turning him down. Although, if someone could reject Yibo, her son would be it. And he looked like he had too, if all of Yibo’s antics today was any sort of indication. She had been rooting for Yibo to win until they all came in from the sunroom. And then Xiao Zhan’s entire demeanor had changed. 

She had never seen her son care what his father thought of him. He didn’t seem interested at all, actually, in his father. In some sense, he treated his father the same way she treated Wen Xu. As if he didn’t exist. Until of course she was forced to come face to face with some shit that Wen Xu did that made her wonder how she had carried in her womb and given birth to someone so misogynistic. She knew that Xiao Zhan ascribed at least part of the blame onto her, even though he never said so out loud. But he had not been around for the first thirteen years when she had raised Wen Xu, when she had treasured him and given him chance after chance to show that he was not only the sum of his behaviors, but that there was some goodness buried underneath. Deep deep underneath. The trouble was though, even as a child, Wen Xu had always been casually malicious. A natural bully to any whom he found he had power over, often yelling at or scaring the help. She had watched him grow thus, caring not a whit for her love or hate, but just her attention. Attention he wanted from everyone, a ton of it. And no matter how much good attention she gave, he wanted the bad kind too. For a long while she had thought that she was a failure as a mother, depressed over her growing aversion to her son, with a husband who was absent more often than not, even when he was physically present. She had dreaded Wen Xu reaching puberty, knowing that she would have to let go of any pretty or young girls who were employed in any sort of capacity around the mansion. When she finally started to have recurrent dreams when she would find herself wandering around the mansion like a madwoman after stabbing Wen Xu to death, she had decided – in what could only be the throes of said madness – to have another child. In hindsight, it didn’t even occur to her at the time to get pregnant by another man. It was not a romantic reason, but a practical one. She did not want there to any question of inheritance. At least in that, she wouldn’t give Wen Xu any advantage. 

And then, as if the heavens had heard all her prayers – well, scratch that, she didn’t believe in the heavens or God, but if there was such a thing as balance and harmony in the universe – she had been granted the light of her life in her second child. He had been so beautiful from birth that she couldn’t convince herself that it was a baby boy. But that wasn’t even the reason. As if to make up for all the toxic testosterone in her home, her mind had simply taken this son to be a daughter. Her only ally in her family. She wouldn’t let her husband or her older son have a single thing to do with his upbringing, in the event that that was what had turned Wen Xu into a shit of a human. As if caring for a flower that only bloomed once every 12 years, she had raised Xiao Zhan in a little utopia that she created with people who appreciated his loveliness and cleverness just like she did. She had thought that had been enough. But of course, he was too smart to simply live in the world she had created for him. Somehow, he had taken the gender identity crisis that she had created and turned it into his advantage. In fact, as a general state of his composition, no matter what the challenge, Xiao Zhan always figured out how to use it to his advantage. She knew that part of him came from her husband. But instead of hating it like she did in her husband, she had been so glad to see that her son had the ability to do the same. He knew how to play every game. He had cut his teeth on his father and Wen Xu after all. How could he not be a master of it by now.

Which all brought her to his knuckles clutching the chair now. He was not afraid of his father. Never has been. So what was this now?

She looked to the other end of the dining room and saw that the boys were getting seated now. Her husband would wait until everyone was seated to enter. He did so like making an entrance. 

She took the seat at the right of where her husband would sit and Xiao Zhan would be on the one to the left, typically Wen Xu’s seat. She wondered briefly how Wen Xu was doing in Switzerland. Who was going to bail him out of trouble when he got into it there? It was only a matter of time. Her younger son was not going to be there to bail him out of it. Or was it her husband’s plan to leave him to rot in a foreign jail – in the event he got hauled off to one – rather than always escaping the ones at home? 

She caught her son eyeing the staff seating the boys, and then magically, Yibo was seated all the way at the end of the table, the farthest from the head of the table. 

What was going on? It was almost as if Xiao Zhan was trying to hide Yibo from her husband, although why her husband would care one way or the other about Yibo was a mystery.

Yibo didn’t seem to mind though, as he was sitting right next to Seungyoun and across from Wenhan.

And then, her husband finally entered the room. 

Wen Ruohan. 

Age had been kinder to him that it should have. She had battled cancer and needed psychotropics for a smidgen of Bipolar while the borderline sociopath that she was married to remained physically fit and carefree. Where was some prostate cancer when you really needed it?

“Sanren.” He said, nodding in her direction, before he took a seat. She nodded back.

“Xiao Zhan.” He said, looking to his left.

“Dad.” Xiao Zhan nodded.

There was a round of introductions that went through and she saw, quite accidentally, when her husband’s ears perked up at Wang Yibo’s name. 

She looked in her son’s direction and noticed that he was watching his father like a hawk, not missing the reaction that he had at Yibo’s name, even though it had been subtle. She saw her son’s eyes close briefly and then open again. He seemed preoccupied for a moment before he sat back, picking up his drink. Then his countenance smoothed out and there was no visible expression left there.

She looked at her husband and noticed that he was now looking at his son. 

Fuck. What the fuck was going on.

Did this have anything to do with Wen Xu? Had Xiao Zhan not been entirely forthcoming about why Wen Xu needed to leave the company? As far as what he had told her, Wen Xu had had yet another lawsuit for sexual harassment and even she thought it was high time Wen Xu needed to leave the CEO post rather than drag all of Wen Entertainment down with him. 

She tried to think back to how her husband could possibly have come to know of Yibo. Yibo wasn’t that famous yet as to be on visual-recognition basis for someone like Wen Ruohan. 

And then her question was answered when Ruohan asked, “Are you all healed, Wang Yibo?”

Everyone turned to him in surprise, the most shocked one being Yibo himself, who sputtered a bit before he said, quietly, “Yes sir.”

She looked at Xiao Zhan with narrowed eyes, but he just swirled his cup of wine, watching the red liquid cling and release and cling and release to its sides. 

“What happened?” Ruohan asked Yibo, although he was glancing sideways at his son at the moment.

She could feel the hair at the back of her neck rising up. This was an inordinate amount of interest in the injury of an idol member. 

“Oh… um, I overestimated my strength and dropped a barbell on my chest by accident.” 

“You did?” Ruohan asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

Xiao Zhan looked up from his wine at his father. 

“He did.” Xiao Zhan answered because the question had really been posed to him.

“Hmm…” Ruohan said, watching Xiao Zhan. Xiao Zhan held his gaze, not blinking. It was deathly quiet around the table, as if everyone was watching to see who would look away first. After a long moment, Ruohan quirked up a side of his lips and picked up his knife and fork, looking at the rest of the table. 

“You should be careful Wang Yibo. Don’t take on weights you can’t carry.” 

She swallowed hard as she looked from Ruohan to Xiao Zhan.

“Yes, sir.” She heard Yibo’s answer, once again quiet. 

She caught her son’s eyes then, but they were entirely impenetrable.

“Good good. Let’s eat.” Ruohan said, with a bit of a chuckle, before cutting into his steak, a bit of red leaking out as if it needed to let her know what a clichéd villain her husband was. 

_xxxxxxxx_


	17. Out of Character

Part 17

His phone pinged a text in the middle of dinner, which was now accompanied by a steady murmur of conversation quiet enough to indicate that no one ignored the presence of the man seated at the head of the table. It was not often that he saw the patriarch of the Wen family, but when he did when he was younger, he had often wondered how half of Xiao Zhan’s DNA came from Ruohan. It was a genetic mystery that had always puzzled him. He had jokingly said as much to his own mother once, wondering out loud, “I think his real father must be someone incredible.” His mother had wiggled her eyebrow and said, “As if Sanren would take the risk. Besides, Sanren said that she knows that Ruohan already ran a paternity test. Xiao Zhan is definitely his son alright.”

He did not wonder any longer. Now that he saw them together at the head of the table, he could see it. There was a coldness in Xiao Zhan’s eyes that he had never seen before. Those eyes were always warm when they fell on him. But it had been a different Xiao Zhan staring down Ruohan earlier, showing little fear. He had suspected as much throughout the years, that there was a different Xiao Zhan that lay hidden just under the surface, but had never had the opportunity to actually see it in action. 

He looked at his phone under the table.

XZ>> If I act overly familiar with you or out of character later on in the night, would you mind?

He glanced up quickly in Xiao Zhan’s direction, but he was in conversation with Yixuan and did not look this way.

LH>> How out of character? How familiar?

He went back to speaking with Sungjoo, although he watched from the periphery of his vision to see if Xiao Zhan would look down at his phone. If he did, he didn’t catch it, but the reply came a minute later just the same.

XZ>> Of the physical nature… please feel free to decline.

Well, this was interesting. A shot of anticipation ran through him even though Xiao Zhan was essentially admitting that the motivation was not romantic. But he had wanted Xiao Zhan too long to not enjoy this particular overture, no matter how suspect the reason.

LH>> Is this to make someone jealous?

This time, he caught the slight widening of Xiao Zhan’s eyes as that gaze fell on him. Haikuan fought the urge to grin. For all his ease of control with his father, did he really not realize how obvious he was with Yibo? 

The phone pinged again.

XZ>> I don’t know what you mean. But, no, it’s not to make anyone jealous. I wouldn’t use you like that.

He smiled at that reply. _Wouldn’t he?_ Maybe not knowingly, he allowed. 

LH>> I wouldn’t mind it so much if you did.

This time when he looked up, there was a slight flush to that neck, although Xiao Zhan did not look his way again.

It was true, he realized. He didn’t mind. Because no matter what Xiao Zhan felt for Yibo, he still treated Haikuan in a way that he treated no other. And it was a sort of honor to hold that place in his heart, knowing that it had been many years that it had been that way and likely many more years that it will continue in that way. 

Once dinner was over, they moved to one of the lounging rooms in the mansion. It held a cornucopia of entertainment, with a karaoke set up in one corner, a piano in another, and an enormous projection screen on one wall. There was a decent-sized bar at the back of the room that Xiao Zhan was behind, handing out beer and wine. 

Ruohan had decided to accompany the group as well and thus, everyone sat around, nursing drinks and speaking amongst each other quietly. 

Once everyone was seated, Haikuan looked in Xiao Zhan’s direction and noticed that he was leaning on the bar, chin on the heel of a palm, his gaze taking in everything and nothing in particular. If he had to venture a guess, Xiao Zhan looked like he was waiting out his father. At least his father’s next move.

Ruohan didn’t disappoint. “So, when can I see what Wen Xu’s big investment has brought me?”

All of UNIQ stopped speaking abruptly and turned in Ruohan’s direction, having been keenly aware of him all along, waiting him out until he spoke.

He looked at Xiao Zhan and noticed that he hadn’t moved. His entire frame looked like it was lounging against the bar, relaxed in its posture, unconcerned about what was unraveling in front of him. A bit too calculated, the lounging was.

Sanren, God bless her ease with everything in life, got up from her chair as if this was the most natural suggestion that her husband had made, and said, “Yes, I want to see EOEO. I have it on karaoke.” 

Of course she did. She, at least, could predict to some degree how her husband functioned. How he aimed to fluster their little ecosystem for whatever purpose he was aiming at. 

And UNIQ being UNIQ didn’t bat an eye, Seungyeon jumping up off his chair and walking with Sanren to get the music going. You couldn’t possibly fluster them by asking to perform. That was sort of their thing.

And perform they did. And fuck if he didn’t have a boner from watching Yibo running his palm all the way down from his neck to his dick, those hips thrusting most suggestively. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen EOEO being performed before, he had, on stage, but the energy of this one was entirely different. And he would bet all his money that Yibo was only dancing for the pretty boy lounging in the back of the room at the bar, who was now not looking at Yibo at all, but focusing all his attention on making some sort of fancy drink with Absolut. _All_ his attention. 

The only other spectators in the room also had their eyes trained on Yibo, it was hard not to. Yibo was definitely… feeling himself. He was hard to look away from. Although, he only had eyes for one.

Fuck. 

Ruohan was watching Yibo intently. Watching Yibo intently watching Xiao Zhan who was ignoring him completely.

He was starting to understand now why Xiao Zhan had asked what he had. 

_xxxxxxxxx_

It came to fruition soon enough. When he was returning from taking a call, Xiao Zhan pulled him into an alcove down the hall from the entertainment room. Haikuan looked at him in surprise. Xiao Zhan’s eyes were wide, his lips parted, although he didn’t think any of it had to do with desire. He was nervous, a bit. 

“Do you see my dad? Don’t be obvious when you look.” he whispered. 

He looked out of the corner of his eye and then saw the shadow of Ruohan’s form coming down the hall. 

He gave an almost imperceptible nod. 

For a moment Xiao Zhan closed his eyes and Haikuan saw him swallow hard. Then he opened his eyes and whispered, “Sorry…” Those fingers grabbed onto his sleeves now as he raised himself on tiptoes. Haikuan could see Ruohan coming closer, and so he grabbed Xiao Zhan around his waist – he will never understand how a man had a waist like Xiao Zhan’s – and turned him around to press him against the wall. There was a little gasp of surprise from Xiao Zhan’s end and he took that opportunity to slip his tongue in, kissing him thoroughly like he had always wanted to. They had not kissed at the end of the only date that they had had way back many years ago. He had wanted to, but Xiao Zhan hadn’t given him any indication that he did, and so he had not tried. But now… this would likely be the only time he would have this chance in this lifetime. And he was going to go for it. Those lips were as sweet as he imagined it would be and he didn’t hold back as he gave and took as much as he had always wanted. His hands around that waist lowered a bit until he raised those hips against his. He could feel how hard he was getting and told himself to slow down. There was something like ringing in his ears as he left those lips and dragged his mouth down the beautiful neck. It took him a moment to notice that Xiao Zhan was holding onto him and letting him do what he wanted, but there was no hardness reciprocating his own that was pressing into Xiao Zhan’s belly. He stopped kissing and held his mouth still against Xiao Zhan’s neck, holding for a moment, his erection flagging rather quickly now that he knew. 

They heard a gasp and turned to look simultaneously. It was no longer Ruohan standing there, witness to their alcove rendezvous, but Yibo. 

_xxxxxxxxxx_


	18. Fickle Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew, I'm exhausted. these boys take everything out of me. if you feel something, say something. - Devi

Part 18

The good part of owning the house that UNIQ lived in was that he had the keys to get in. Sneaking up the stairs and finding Yibo’s room would have been a bit more tricky if not for the fact that most of the boys had been dead drunk by the time they came home. That and the fact that someone had taken the initiative to paste large caricature cartoon versions of each of the boys onto their bedroom doors. Yibo’s room was in one of the corners, across from Seungyoun’s room; the other three bedrooms were on the other side of the floor. The door was not locked and he let himself in, closing the door behind him and locking it now. 

He could see Yibo’s general form on the bed, tangled in his sheets. When he stepped on what seemed like clothes on the floor, he turned his phone’s flashlight on and could see that Yibo had literally stripped down naked on his way to bed.

It gave him pause and he wondered for the hundredth time – as he had on his drive here – what he was doing. His little act with Haikuan had unintentionally killed two birds with one stone. He had hoped his father had been more or less convinced that Yibo simply nursed a one-way crush that was not reciprocated on his end. 

The problem was, if he could find that gym recording, so could his father. And when his father had kept him in the dark about wanting the boys to come over for dinner until earlier that evening, he had unintentionally – _or intentionally_ – revealed his suspicions. 

He was sure that his father suspected that Wen Xu’s removal must have had some other immediate precipitant aside from the sexual harassment lawsuit. He must be curious about the real reason why his younger son had finally decided to arrange a coup on the older one. If the reason was anything other than pure business, and involved something foolish like an affaire de coeur, he wanted to know. Especially since his younger son had never shown such a weakness before. 

His knee hit the edge of the bed now and he stopped. He could smell the wine and sweat on Yibo from here, but rather than turn him off, it had exactly the opposite effect. He wondered for a moment if he really had lost his head. 

What was he doing here?

As if reminding him, his brain summoned the image of Yibo’s face in that hallway. His expression had been so open in its devastation. And he had literally felt something grinding his chest at that moment. Yibo had murmured a quick _Sorry_ and had turned around and gone back inside. Afterwards, Haikuan had looked at him with a sort of sadness in his eyes and he had felt truly wretched for the first time. 

But in the end, it didn’t matter how he felt. The problem in front of him was bigger than how they all felt. 

“I think he really likes you.” 

“He’s young. He’ll get over it.” He said in return. 

Haikuan had started to pull back by then and he stopped him. 

“Thank you.” He whispered. 

For a moment, Haikuan just searched his eyes as if trying to find the answer to a question that he didn’t want to share. Then, “I should have done this ten years ago while I still had the chance. Now it’s too late.” 

“I’m no good for you.” He said honestly, letting Haikuan see it in his eyes.

This time Haikuan dropped a soft kiss on his lips before saying, “You should have let me make that decision for myself.”

“I liked you too much to see it through to any sort of an end.”

“What makes you think it would have ended?”

“It always ends. The heart is fickle like that.” He answered truthfully.

After a moment, Haikuan smiled. “So, you held yourself back so we won’t end?”

He tilted his head and smiled back after a moment. “You’re an optimist at heart, aren’t you?” 

“Always.”

“See why I want to be a good memory for you for all of life?” he asked.

Haikuan’s smile faded. “If you say things like that, I’ll forget that you have no romantic interest in me.” 

And then his own smile dissolved too.

When Haikuan held his gaze for a moment longer, he thought to offer, “I have no romantic interest in anyone.”

This time Haikuan raised an eyebrow and looked back down the hallway where Yibo had disappeared.

“Could’ve fooled me.”

He looked up in surprise. It was one thing to know Yibo’s feelings, he didn’t even try to hide them. But if Haikuan could see that he himself reciprocated in any sort of fashion, well, then his father could too. 

“Why do you say that?” he asked quietly. 

“You really don’t know?” Haikuan asked in return and he felt true fear for the first time.

He closed his eyes and put his head back against the wall behind him. “Fuck, my father is going to have a heyday with this.”

“Why?”

He opened his eyes. 

“It’s what we do in this family. We find each other’s weaknesses and exploit them. We love nobody, not even each other.”

“You and your mother.” Haikuan offered the obvious rebuttal.

“That was a long road. And we both know how to protect ourselves. Dad can’t do much to mom without having to watch his back for the rest of his life. It’s in his best interest to leave her alone.”

“And you?” 

“Oh, I’m as bad as all of them.” He said now, smiling, and feeling a stone lift off his chest at being able to admit as much.

Haikuan tilted his head as if he didn’t quite believe it. 

“Wen Xu is no longer the CEO of Wen Entertainment, is he?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Both of Haikuan’s eyebrows lifted now and then a moment later, realization. 

“Well, fuck.” He said.

“Hmm… Dad has figured that out too. He must agree with the decision ultimately, because he allowed it to happen. But now he wants to know _why I_ wanted it to happen. That’s the reason for this whole evening.”

Haikuan absorbed that for a moment and then jerked a bit in surprise, asking, “Does he think it has something to do with…” he pointed down the hallway, but then asked, “But why? What could it possibly have to do with Yibo?”

He wondered if he should share, but then decided that he might as well. Now that they were already here, he wanted to see if Haikuan would become a bit of an ally. At least to get through this immediate problem.

“Wen Xu dropped the barbell on Yibo’s chest.” 

“What?” Haikuan asked, drawing back in surprise. “Why?”

“Some girlfriend nonsense.” 

“But Yibo is very obviously not into women.” Haikuan pointed out.

He chuckled at that. “Tell that to the women. Especially Wen Xu’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

“Indeed.”

There was a pause. And then, “Wait, you actually got rid of Wen Xu because of that?”

 _Ah, this._ What was the answer to this question?

“Well no. Wen Xu has more than his fair share of faults, the litany of sexual harassment complaints that follow him around one of the major ones. Frankly, given enough time, he would have sunk the business.”

Given how well Haikuan knew their family, Wen Xu’s legal trouble with women was not news to him. And so he said, “Was that the reason?”

“What else would it be?” he asked.

Haikuan watched his eyes and he looked back, unblinking. 

“Well, your gaze has always been steady and I’ve always been impressed. But baby, you want him way too bad to hide it properly.”

“How do you know?” he asked, for a moment recalling Yibo calling him baby. 

“I was sitting between you two in the sunroom, remember?” 

At this point he didn’t try to affirm or deny it. He just skipped right past to asking, “You think my dad knows?” 

Haikuan thought of that for a moment. “He is a smart guy. But then again, he just saw us suck face in here. So…”

He flushed at the reminder. Something about Haikuan still brought him back to his teenage years and he didn’t think he would ever outgrow that feeling.

He finally put forth the plan that had been forming in his head since he had seen Yibo’s dance. Even focusing meticulously on making a cumbersome cocktail that he had no plans on drinking had done little to alleviate how hard his dick had been, the zipper of his skintight jeans digging in mercilessly. But then again, he doubted there had been anyone in that room who hadn’t been turned on. 

“Can we keep this up for a bit longer?”

“Sucking face?” Haikuan asked with a grin.

He knew Haikuan was kidding, but he still shook his head, Yibo’s wounded face etched into his memory. “Pretend dating.”

“You’re serious.” Haikuan said after a moment.

He nodded. “One hallway tryst is hardly going to convince dad fully. Besides, this way, Yibo will back off too.” And as if only then remembering, he quickly added, “I mean, only if you’re not currently involved. I’m sorry, I didn’t even think to ask. And obviously, only if you’re okay with this? Knowing that it’s…”

“Fake.” Haikuan finished.

He nodded.

“Do I get to kiss you again?” 

For a moment he said nothing, but then, “I would rather you didn’t.”

Haikuan smiled, although he finally let him go fully. “You’re completely whipped for that boy. Capital W.” 

He sighed at that proclamation as Haikuan walked away.

When he returned to the entertainment room, Yibo was sandwiched between Sungjoo and Yixuan, looking sullen and drunk. He had kept on drinking until finally Xiao Zhan had pulled Yixuan aside to ask him to take away his alcohol. At which point, Yixuan had made the executive decision that all the boys had had enough to drink and party and needed to head back home. 

Which all brought him back to this moment. In truly whipped fashion, against all his good judgment, here he was in Yibo’s room. And now that he was here, what? 

Nothing really. He had just wanted to make sure Yibo was ok. And now that he saw that he was, he should be on his way.

Just as he started to turn away though, Yibo shifted on the bed, whispering, “Xiao Zhan…”

His sheets shifted from his body, just enough that Xiao Zhan could see the long line of his spine and the smooth curve of his ass.

He reached over to tug the sheet back over to cover him, but the motion made Yibo kick off the sheet altogether.

“Why do you have to be so difficult?” he asked quietly, dragging the sheet from where it was trapped under Yibo’s body.

When he went to cover him again, his eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness that he could finally see Yibo’s sleeping face. 

His heart skipped a beat. Capital W was a big fucking problem.

He went to pull back before he did something stupid like press kisses everywhere he could see.

And Yibo opened his eyes.

He was so startled that he almost jerked back. 

But Yibo grabbed him by the hand and pulled him down onto the bed with him.

“You’re here.” He whispered. 

“I’m not. This is a dream.” He whispered back, hoping that was enough to convince Yibo to return to sleep.

“I know.” He whispered back. “You would never be in my bedroom otherwise. Or be so nice to me.”

How he knew how to kill with words. Simple fucking words.

“Am I not nice to you?” he asked quietly.

Yibo shook his head, his lips turning in an unconscious pout.

“Then ignore me. Don’t waste your time on people who are not nice to you.” He said, even as he relented to Yibo’s pulling and lay down against him.

“I want to. I really do.”

“Then?” he asked.

“I think I already like you too much though.”

He fought an urge to stuff his knuckles inside his mouth. 

“Can you not say things like that?” he whispered, brushing back the slightly wet hair on the side of Yibo’s temple.

“Why not?” Yibo asked back, those lips parting in a way that drew his eyes.

He forgot to answer, and then he forgot the question too, when Yibo leaned over and said against his lips, “Do you want me to kiss you like you asked me not to?”

“No…” he whispered.

Yibo raised himself on an elbow and put his chin on the heel of his palm as he watched his face.

“Liar.”

Xiao Zhan shook his head. 

“You love it when I kiss you.”

He closed his eyes now as he shook his head.

“And you want to kiss me too.”

“I thought you just wanted to fuck a pretty boy in a miniskirt and fishnet.”

“Hmm… that was… an experiment.”

“An experiment?” he asked, drawing back a little.

“All my previous experience has been with cute backup dancers. You know, basically, the only people I see on a regular basis.”

“And Wenhan.” He reminded him.

“How did you know?” Yibo’s face was all surprise.

“Oh come on, it’s obvious.”

“It’s definitely not. Even the other hyungs don’t know.”

“Do they not?” he asked and Yibo paused.

“At least I don’t think so. Wenhan and I, it was a long time ago. There was a brief period of time in Korea when we were roommates and I think we both missed home too much. And I think my blond hair and eyeliner did a bit of a number of him.”

“He was your first?”

“First what? It was just a few months of mutual handjobs. More stress relief than anything else. But then, one day he went down on me and I think that made things a bit more complicated in our heads. A bit more weird. And we decided to get different roommates claiming that I played too much videogames before bed. Which is true anyways. So technically…”

“Seungyeoun didn’t try to hit on you?” 

Yibo laughed now. “You know, Seungyoun is actually like my brother.”

“Two Leos.”

“Well, yes, that too. He is often puzzled why I get more attention for my looks than he does for his.”

“That’s what I was telling MianMian. He really is the cutest.” 

Yibo looked at him, just as he had known he would, a drunken cute pout on his face.

“You think he’s the cutest?” 

He nodded, pulling in his lower lip so that he wouldn’t smile. And just for good measure, he added, “And Wenhan is obviously the hottest.”

“That’s true.” Yibo admitted, his lips scrunched up like a pig’s snout. “Then why did you fuck me?” he asked, irritated now.

“What do you mean? First of all, technically, you fucked me. Second of all, you came to me, and paid good money to see me in a miniskirt and fishnet. Which by the way, you did not finish telling me about. What experiment?”

The pout was still there, although now Yibo looked distracted and confused as he tried to recollect his thoughts. 

“Hmm… I just wanted to see if I was into that sort of thing. And I couldn’t very well ask a regular ol’ fuckbuddy to get dressed up in a miniskirt and fishnet. I can just imagine the reputation I would get.”

“Why? At least some of them would be happy to do whatever you asked.”

Yibo looked at him in surprise. And then he smirked. “You were happy to let me do whatever I wanted.”

“Yea, because you paid good money for it.”

The smirk dimmed. “That’s not the only reason.”

“How do you know?”

“Please, you don’t even accept repeat clients. And yet you took me three times.”

Ah, touché.

He shrugged. “I would have said no if there was something I didn’t like.”

“I know. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Without warning, Yibo pulled up his t-shirt to quickly lick a nipple with the tip of his tongue.

It happened so fast that he couldn’t contain his gasp of pleasure. Yibo’s tongue had been hot and wet and the air had cooled his sensitive nipple in the most delicious way right after.

“You like everything I do to you.” The smirk was back. Although now, there was lust too, Yibo’s eyes turning with it even in the dark room. 

“Not everything…” he whispered after a moment.

“No?’ Yibo asked as he pulled his shirt the rest of the way off. 

“I don’t like your kisses.” He said, watching those eyes.

Yibo raised himself up more fully and moved until he was leaning over him. 

“No?” he asked, leaning down to drop a kiss on the tip of his nose.

“No.” he shook his head.

“No?” he asked again, his lips pressing into the corner of an eyelid.

_Fuck, he didn’t think he would survive the night this way._

He shook his head, his eyes closed.

“No?” Yibo asked again, moving up to drop a kiss on the arch of his brow.

He opened his eyes then and watched that face. Those eyes and those lips. 

He had formulated a long-term plan. It would start after the next hour. Or two. Hopefully. 

He grabbed Yibo by the hips and dragged him fully on top of him. And tried not to groan as he felt the full weight of Yibo’s glorious naked body on top of him and against his skin. His pants were still on, but before they came off, he needed to tell Yibo something.

“Fuck…” Yibo whispered, burying his face into his neck and his eyes closed as he felt goosebumps breaking out all over.

“Am I your dream?” he asked.

“In more ways than one.” Yibo said against his neck.

His lips quirked up at that answer.

“You’ll know tomorrow that this didn’t happen.” He said into Yibo’s ears.

Yibo lifted his head to look at him strangely now. He didn’t let that stop him and plugged on, “You know you can’t hit on your VP.”

Yibo tilted his head.

“You know why you’re at Wen Entertainment?” 

Yibo just watched him now, not affirming or denying anything.

“Because this is your second chance. UNIQ’s second chance. You’re not going to fuck it up for some sex.”

Yibo started to pull back and Xiao Zhan looped his arms around Yibo’s waist, holding him in place.

“Then why are you here?” Yibo asked now in irritation, although he allowed the hold around his waist.

“Oh, but this is a dream. And in this dream, you get to fuck me silly. Do whatever you want. Without any consequences.”

“What are you, some sort of blow-up doll that I am going to wreck in just my unconscious? Why would I want you if you don’t want me?”

“Who said I don’t want you?”

“I’m pretty sure you did.”

“I most definitely did not.” He pulled Yibo’s hips closer so that he could feel how hard he was already. 

Yibo groaned and bit out, “I think your exact words were, “Seungyoun is the cutest and Wenhan is the hottest.”” 

“And Wang Yibo is mine.” He said huskily, moving his legs apart a bit so that Yibo fit in perfectly in the middle.

Yibo’s eyes jerked up to his. 

“All…” he raised his head up to press a kiss into those lips parted in surprise. “Mine.” He finished when he pulled back.

He could literally feel the longing and need flowing out from every pore of his body. He didn’t think he had ever wanted something as bad as he wanted Yibo.

Yibo’s eyes burned for a moment before his mouth came down to crash against his, his fingers tugging at the waistband of his jeans to pull them off.

“Fuck, I can’t fuck you. I don’t have any lube.” Yibo said when he pulled back after a moment.

“In my pocket.” He volunteered. 

“You came here prepared to get fucked?” Yibo asked in wonder, pausing.

For a moment, he floundered as he thought of a good answer for that. What was he going to say? He always carried lube with him if he knew he was going to see Yibo. Even when there was no chance of carnal activity for a million years.

“This is a dream. Of course you would have lube.” Yibo murmured, answering his own question.

“Clever boy.” Xiao Zhan muttered, smiling. “Now find it and put that dick in me.”

He saw Yibo’s grin as he pulled the abandoned jeans and searched in its pockets for the small tube of lube.

He made a big show of spreading it all over his dick, watching his face with a smirk.

He wanted to roll his eyes, but fuck if Yibo wasn’t made like every fantasy come to life.

And then abruptly, Yibo’s smirk disappeared as he bent his head to dip his tongue into his belly button and his back almost arched off the bed. At the same time, Yibo slipped one finger inside, the fit easy enough. 

He was not going to admit to any soul that he fingered himself open daily while his head was filled to bursting with Yibo.

“You’re the prettiest sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. I want to keep you chained up to this bed and fuck you down forever. Eat you out when I want to. Put my tongue inside you. And my cock too…” Yibo was practically growling in his ear.

“Don’t bother with the finger. Just hurry up and come inside.” He asked, his voice all manner of desperate, as he raised his arms and grabbed onto the wooden slats of the headboard behind him.

There was no finesse now as Yibo’s dick was where his fingers had been earlier. His own dick was leaking pre-cum steadily now, dripping onto his stomach.

And then, not without some burn, Yibo was inside. But even the burn was welcome. As long as it was Yibo. 

Yibo was murmuring in his ear now, his voice soft and tender, “Did I hurt you? Did I hurt you?" trying to keep his hips still.

He opened his eyes then and took Yibo’s face in both his hands.

“Did I hurt you? Earlier tonight?” he asked, his voice shaking a bit as it still burned. Yibo was burning everything inside him.

Yibo’s eyes turned again, a flash of real pain there now, “It felt like you ripped my heart out and stomped on it.”

And he felt it again, his own heart tearing in two, and he pulled Yibo’s face down to kiss him. Kiss him like he had told him not to. 

Yibo’s arms went around him as he crushed them together, their bodies pressing into each other everywhere it could touch.

“Hurt me back. Hurt me back the same way.” He whispered to Yibo when they pulled back for air.

“Why?”

“Hurt me so you won’t fall in love with me…” _And I won’t fall in love with you…_

“I’m pretty fucking sure it’s way too late for that.” Yibo said, dropping his forehead against his.

That’s what he was afraid of.

And then, as if their bodies took matters into their own hands, Yibo was moving, gently at first and then not so gently when Xiao Zhan’s body seemed to suck him in into its tight wet heat as if beckoning home. 

He literally stuffed Yibo’s pillow into his mouth when he felt a scream building all the way up from the pit of his belly to his throat. And Yibo… Yibo bit into his shoulder so hard that he actually did bleed. 

_xxxxxxxx_


	19. Baby Lion

Part 19

“What happened to your shoulder?” he dabbed the rest of the ointment on before grabbing the nonstick pad, gauze, and tape to dress the wound. He wasn’t fast enough in covering it up and his mother was there inspecting it the next moment.

“Baby Lion has sharp teeth.” She mused with a grin as she took over the dressing.

He thought of lying for a moment, but then decided to say nothing. She could see through most of his lies anyways, so he tried to keep any attempts to deceive her to a minimum.

“When did you get in?” she asked when she was almost done. 

He was tired and sleepy. Not to mention, he was definitely going to have trouble walking today. Hell, sitting was going to be hard. He wanted to curl up and sleep for at least 10 hours so that both his body and mind recovered enough to see through the next few days and then the next few weeks. 

“Is dad still here?” he asked her instead of answering her question. 

“He had a flight to catch at 6, so he left early.”

“So, you want to tell me what that was about yesterday?” she asked now, done with waiting for him to share willingly.

He took a deep breath. “Wen Xu dropped the barbell on Yibo’s chest. Dad suspects that that had something to do with…” he petered off.

“You got rid of Wen Xu because of Yibo?” she asked now, taken aback.

“I did not.” He said in what he hoped was his best firm yet neutral tone.

“I’m not judging you for it. I’m surprised that you kept Wen Xu around for as long as you did.”

He didn’t respond to that. “Either way, dad suspects that was the reason.”

“Why couldn’t you figure out another way to punish Wen Xu rather than do something that would call dad’s attention?” 

“Mom, I cannot have him physically attack the idols under our management. Especially cash cow idols who have not even had the opportunity to produce any return on our investment.”

His mother stilled. She looked at him curiously when he focused on fixing the tape on the dressing that she had already secured.

“The sex is that good that you need to push him away even in your private thoughts?”

It was funny that she thought that his private thoughts were the same as what he said to her.

“There is no sex and there is no relationship.” So much for no lying. “With him. Or any other idols. I am going to date Haikuan.”

“What?” she asked, surprised yet again.

He nodded as he got up to put the first-aid box away. 

“Listen, I’m not one to butt into your love life.”

He gave her a look.

“What? I’m not.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Okay, maybe a little. And that little part of me is asking you why you’re going to date Haikuan now when you haven’t wanted to for the last ten years.”

“I’m finally ready.” He said, moving aside the shirt with his bloodstains and getting a new one.

“And it has nothing to do with Yibo?”

“Mom, not everything in my life has to do with Yibo!”

She sighed and walked over to her regular chair in his room.

When she turned quiet, he asked, “Dad didn’t ask you anything?”

He watched her in the mirror and saw her shake her head.

He took a deep breath as he tried to think of all the shit that he needed to prepare for.

His dad was going to do something to test out his theory and that something would inevitably target Yibo. He was sure that it would happen within the next week or two. If he didn’t react to the first attempt, there would be one more that followed, just to be completely sure. 

“You know your father is going to do something to fuck with Yibo.” She said, voicing his thoughts, clearly not buying anything he told her before.

For a moment, he felt a sort of bone-crushing fatigue anticipating what was to come. Usually, he didn’t mind playing these mind games with his father. He loved to thwart him, really. But now, he just felt weary at having to prepare for every inevitability in how his father’s brain worked. His mother was right, he should have figured out how to remove Wen Xu before. But then again, if he had, he would have never met Yibo. 

His brother was still enjoying his time in Switzerland, having flown the actress girlfriend there for a two-week vacation. But he knew, that would end soon. Now that there was no Yibo or other roadblocks in the way, Wen Xu would get bored with the actress, just like she would with him. And then it was only a matter of time before Wen Xu found trouble. He had to figure out how to bring him back before that and get him into his new position. As much as he could use an extended vacation from Wen Xu and his troubles, if his brother got into another mess so soon after, his father would be irate enough to make everything worse for all of them. 

“I was thinking that it would be a good idea to promote them in Korea for a bit. I mean, they did train there after all. They had exposure there already, so it’s just going to be reconnecting with that fanbase.”

“You’re going to send him away?” she asked.

He didn’t answer her directly, but instead said, “I think we can renegotiate a contract with YG entertainment. Provide most of the upfront resources and go hard with the promotions. Have them really work that crowd for a few months. And when they are positioned well, slowly move them into the international circuit too. That way, they won’t just be bound to navigating home politics for survival.”

When she didn’t answer, he caught her gaze in the mirror again. Her eyes were sad now as she watched him. He tilted his head up with a _What?_

She shook her head now and looked out the window.

“I assume then that Haikuan is aware of what you’re doing.”

“He is a good man.” Was his answer.

She nodded, still looking out the window. “Yes, he is.” 

_xxxxxxxx_

He didn’t see Yibo or UNIQ for the next three days. But he did make sure that he and Haikuan were photographed together getting coffee and grabbing lunch. No one was going to write that they were dating, but speculations would make the rounds amongst those interested in that sort of thing. Which, given that he was simply a second son and a VP rather than someone occupying Wen Xu’s position, did not include too many people. But he was sure that his dad noticed. And really, that was the only audience that mattered in this matter. 

The fourth day, he had UNIQ over to the office for a meeting. The negotiation with YG was coming along well and he wanted them to leave for Korea as soon as it was finalized. He wanted to prep them sooner than later.

The boys were seated in the small conference room and his mother and Haikuan were already there when he entered with MianMian and Wen Ning. He gave a general smile and a quick glance around the room, lingering on no one, before launching into his vision for them in Korea. Sungjoo and Seungyoun were the most excited for obvious reasons, but the others were too, clearly seeing their growth potential to be more substantial in Korea. His gaze didn’t stray to Yibo the whole time and he was congratulating himself for his self-control when his mother chose that moment to ask, and not quietly, “How’s your shoulder?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yibo startle. 

“What happened to his shoulder?” Haikuan asked.

He looked at his mother in his most subtle version of _What the hell are you doing?_

She seemed amused. “A cute little puppy bit him right on the shoulder.”

Haikuan narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between mother and son. “Was it not house-trained?”

That made his mother laugh out loud. “Oh no, this one is too cute to housetrain. Besides, A’ Zhan has developed a bit of a soft spot for it, I think. He didn’t even blink even though he was bleeding enough to need a full dressing.”

“Mom.” His voice was low when he called out the warning. Thankfully, the boys were too excited to discuss their Korea prospects to pay attention to this conversation, Yibo the only exception.

His mother clearly did not have enough to keep her occupied in life.

“Bleeding? What kind of a puppy bites that hard?”

“A baby lion.” She answered with a laugh.

Haikuan looked obviously confused. 

“Well, if we are all done here, this meeting is adjourned.” Xiao Zhan said loudly before his mother shot her mouth off even more.

The boys filed out of the room shortly thereafter, MianMian and Wen Ning leaving with them. His mother and Haikuan had their own meetings to attend and he quickly hugged his mother before she left, whispering in her ear, “If there is any fallout from this little act of yours, I’m going to get you back.”

“Ooh, I’m scared.” She whispered back with a smile before kissing him on his cheek to leave. 

“Saturday evening?” Haikuan asked and he nodded. Saturday, there was an entertainment executives’ event that they had to attend and they had figured that they would just do it together. Visibility was good, especially at events that they had to go to anyways.

When he returned to his office, Yibo was waiting for him inside. 

“Who let you in?” he asked, closing the door behind him before walking in.

“MianMian.” Yibo answered. 

Were all of his friends and family in on some secret conspiracy to throw Yibo in his path all the fucking time?

“What’s up?” He asked when he took his seat, turning on his laptop and focusing on that rather than look at Yibo.

In answer, Yibo placed a sheaf of papers in front of him. 

“What’s this?” He could see the Wen Group emblem up top, the parent agency to Wen Entertainment. He looked through it. It was a contract specifically between Wen Group and Wang Yibo. Nothing to do with UNIQ. It was stipulating that his continued inclusion in the group and management under Wen Entertainment was dependent on Yibo enrolling in a bachelor’s degree program. It could be in any field and could be done virtually, but he needed to be enrolled. And take a full course load. And the degree had to be completed in four years or less, not more. It did not absolve him from any other commitments related to UNIQ’s responsibilities or any other shows, dramas, ads, etc. that he may become involved in over the next four years. At no point could his course-load drop below full-time. 

Okay, so when he thought of his father making trouble for Yibo, this was not what he had anticipated. He knew his father wouldn’t put Yibo in physical danger, why would he try to actually damage an investment? But he had been prepared for other ways in which his father would make Yibo’s life difficult. He had anticipated something temporary in nature, just to gauge his son’s reaction. Not a long-term torture of this magnitude. 

“Do you have any interest in going to college?” he asked, flipping through the last few pages of the contract.

When Yibo didn’t respond, he looked up.

“You didn’t have anything to do with this?” Yibo asked.

He sat back in his chair, putting the contract down. “If I made you do this, why wouldn’t I have the rest of them do it, too? Not all the boys have college degrees. Who gave you this anyways?” 

“It was delivered to the house yesterday.”

Well, his father had truly gone above and fucking beyond.

He grabbed the contract again and flipped through it once more, as if looking through it again would somehow alert him to some loophole that would allow Yibo to get out of it. As if that would even be possible. 

“If you have no interest, I can see if I can get you out of it.” He said neutrally, looking for the name of his father’s lawyer who drafted it.

“This is your father’s doing, then?” Yibo asked.

He shrugged noncommittally, as if that would downplay the whole thing to something more palatable than what it was. A completely unethical, possibly illegal – although lawyer, so maybe not – takeover of someone’s life. How exactly did his father expect him to handle this? How did he think he would not handle it? What the stupid fuck in Wen’s Hell.

“I’ll do it.” Yibo said then and he looked up.

“Do what?” 

“Go to college.”

“Do you even want to?” 

“Why not?”

“Then why haven’t you gone before?”

“When did I have the time? I was owned by a management that kept me quite busy.”

“What do you want to study?”

“Media production.”

He was surprised. “Why?”

“Why not? I can’t live out my life as an idol. And I have experience in tv. At some point, I would like to go back to it.”

“Or you could make a ton of money as an idol and retire when you want and never have to work again.”

“You think I’m lazy?” 

He tilted his head. “How does not working to earn money make you lazy? Having discretionary wealth just frees up your time to do what you want.”

Yibo laughed without mirth. “You have plenty of discretionary wealth and still work at least ten hours a day. And I hardly think you have any free time to do what you want. Not to mention, the freedom to do what you want.”

His eyes narrowed. “This is not about me. Besides, what freedoms am I lacking in?”

Now Yibo’s eyes narrowed. “A puppy bit your shoulder? Really?”

He put the contract down and got up from his seat.

“She was kidding.” He said, walking to the window.

“It wasn’t a puppy?” 

“It’s really none of your business.”

Another laugh with zero humor. “You’re the biggest hypocrite I’ve met in my life. Honestly.”

Xiao Zhan turned back to face Yibo, holding his gaze.

“Even your mother knows it was me. And you’re still trying to deny it?”

“Deny what?” He asked, even though he shouldn’t have. But he did because he was a sucker for picking pointless arguments with Wang Yibo. Evidently.

This time Yibo got up from his chair to come to the window. He fought the urge to move back and stood his ground. 

And then Yibo’s cologne hit him right in the solar plexus and his hands fisted into the pullcords of the blinds.

“That you snuck into my room that night.”

Yibo’s gaze was daring him to deny it.

He didn’t speak, although he didn’t look away either.

“What’s the matter? Haikuan is good enough to kiss, but not to fuck?”

He still didn’t look away. 

“What, you’re not going to be mean today?” Yibo’s gaze started to turn soft and then he did turn away. But Yibo grabbed him back by the shoulder, the same shoulder that he had bitten three nights ago and he winced. Yibo let go immediately, but only so he could try to pull off his jacket. He grabbed his hand to stop him.

“I want to see.”

“There’s really nothing to see.”

“There was blood on my pillow, you know.” Yibo whispered and he turned back. 

So much for trying to hide it.

“Did it hurt?” Yibo asked now, taking his cold hand in his warm one and flipping it open to kiss the inside of his wrist.

He closed his eyes at the tenderness. 

“Every time we see each other, one of us ends up having to ask that question.” 

Yibo looked up questioningly. 

“ _Did it hurt_.”

“It’s the first time I have had to ask you though.”

“It didn’t.” He said, pulling his hand back.

“Liar.” Yibo whispered, although he released his hand. “Should I save the pillow cover as a souvenir?” 

“Of what?”

“It was goodbye sex, wasn’t it? Your way of saying _Sorry, the sex is great, but really, this will go nowhere and I want to date other people_.”

“Burn it then.” 

Yibo sighed, his exhalation one that recognized that this was futile.

“Go to Korea, Yibo. Focus on UNIQ’s comeback.”

“And college.” Yibo reminded him.

“Yes.” he agreed. “If you’re okay with it.”

“It doesn’t look like a choice.”

“It’s a choice. You can decline.” He said with certainty. 

“I can say no to your father?” he asked.

“ _I_ can say no to my father. If you don’t want to, I’ll get you out of it.” 

Yibo watched him for a moment and then shook his head. “No, I want to do it. It’s good to have this incentive to not give up even if it gets tough.”

“Not _if_ , but _when_.” 

Yibo smiled now. “Yes, _when_ it gets tough. You going to help me with the homework?”

“I’ll get you a tutor.” He said seriously. There was a GPA requirement in the contract too.

“Don’t worry about it. If I need one, I’ll let you know.”

He nodded. 

They heard a knock at the door.

“One minute.” He called out.

Yibo picked up the contract before turning to him one last time. “You’re serious about Haikuan?”

He nodded without hesitation.

Yibo nodded too. “He’s a good man. He suits you.”

His mouth felt dry and he didn’t nod or speak.

“Alright then. I guess I won’t see you for a while.” Yibo said with a sigh. 

“You can tell your manager or MianMian or Wen Ning about anything you need. They’ll let me know.”

“In other words, don’t contact you.”

He didn’t answer.

Yibo nodded again before turning around to walk out.

_xxxxxxxxxxx_


	20. Midnight Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just FYI, this is a work of fiction. And some far-ass-fetched fiction too. The real Yibo's mother is alive and well.  
> To know what this disclaimer is about, I guess you'll have to keep reading. - Devi

Part 20

It was six months before they met again. But not the first time he’s seen Yibo. Unbeknownst to the boys, he and Haikuan had gone to at least three of their concerts and stayed in the same hotels with them at least twice, although they did not let them know. Especially Yibo. 

Yibo had finished his first semester of classes with a 3.23 GPA, which was really nothing short of a miracle given his schedule. He did have a tutor, two in fact; one for the language arts and the other for organizing his academic life and schedule, making sure he stayed on track with turning in all his assignments on time, procuring materials he may need, just all the things he didn’t have time to worry about. Math, he picked up naturally, requiring little in the way of tutoring. History and science were just a matter of tackling the quantity of work assigned than any issue with grasping the material. But the language arts, there were definite holes in his education, especially because so much of his middle and high school had been in Korea. Which essentially meant there was a lot of ground to cover in terms of giving him exposure to the Chinese classics, but he was good at memorization, and so with a tutor, it worked out. Still, Xiao Zhan had been quite impressed with Yibo’s final GPA, pumping his fist into the air in his empty room when he got the final report card as if it was his own child who had aced his classes. He had almost wanted to call his father to say, “Take that, old man.” But that would defeat the whole purpose of doing all the crap that he had done to ensure that his father understood that he had little interest in Yibo beyond business. 

As it was, their meeting at the end of six months was happenchance. He had been in Korea with Haikuan to meet with JYP Entertainment for one of their joint ventures and unexpectedly, just before their meeting started, Jackson Wang had burst in for a quick visit and Yibo had been with him. Yibo had looked surprised, but genuinely happy to see him. Haikuan had been the one to take the initiative to set up dinner that night with the boys. Some of the Got7 members ended up coming as well, courtesy of Jackson. Afterwards, they had moved to some karaoke bar where Seungyoun had gotten drunk and serenaded him, crooning, “I miss your pretty face, Zhan ge. It’s just not the same without you.”

“I thought you loved being in Korea.”

“I do, I do. But I can still miss you, can’t I?”

“I heard some girl broke your heart.”

“Some girl? _Some girl_?” even in his drunken state, he looked entirely indignant at this classification. “Lisa is a Goddess with a capital G, I’ll have you know. Even to have my heart broken by her is an honor.”

He looked up at Yixuan, who was on the other side of Seungyoun, and Yixuan nodded his head sadly, whispering, “He has it baaaad.”

“Does he mean _Blackpink_ Lisa?” he whispered back, eyes wide. 

Yixuan nodded, patting poor Seungyoun on the back consolingly. 

“Hot damn, how did you even get close enough to talk to her? Even BTS can only stand back in awe and stare.”

Clearly Seungyoun’s heart hadn’t been shattered too badly because he paused now to pull his lips with both his index fingers into a wide smile as he asked, “You see this? And these dimples? The adorable crinkles at the end of my eyes when I smile? She would have to be born a few more times to resist all this.”

He cracked up without meaning to and Seungyoun, who had been entirely serious in his self-assessment of his own attractiveness seemed confused for a moment, while Yixuan laughed behind him.

“Well, no amount of rejection can even ding that ego of yours.”

“Of course not.” Seungyoun answered, once again not seeing the humor in this, stating it as certain fact. “We Leos know our power.” He said, raising an eyebrow, before turning to the other side of the room and calling out, “Don’t we now Yibo?” 

Yibo was seated next to Jackson and a few of the Got7 members, Jackson entertaining the group with some elaborate story, although his gaze returned to Yibo every so often. 

Yibo looked in their direction now, tilting his head in question as he yelled out, “What?” over the music.

“Leos.” Seungyoun pointed between them. “We know our power. With just a little bit of work, we can have almost anyone eating out of our palms.”

Yibo’s eyes slid to him for a brief moment and he smiled before he looked back at Seungyoun to nod. 

“You drunk already?” he asked. 

Seungyoun shook his head, although it lolled now onto his shoulder and Xiao Zhan lowered himself just a bit so that it was more comfortable for his head.

Haikuan was sitting a few seats away from him, in conversation with Wenhan and he caught his eye and gestured to Seungyoun’s form.

“I’ll take him back.” He mouthed before looking at Yixuan to tell him the same.

“I’ll come back too.” Yixuan said, as he stood up. “I’m beat.”

Their hotel was not that far from where the boys dormed so he sent a quick text to Haikuan to let him know that he will be heading back to his room after giving the boys a ride. Haikuan looked up from the phone and nodded. Their rooms were on the same floor in the hotel, but in different wings. For all that they still kept up the charade of dating, staying in the same room would have been too awkward. But they did usually end up having dinner together whenever they traveled, which they would have done even if they didn’t have an act to keep up. Now that he felt free of the lingering crush that he had nursed for what seemed like eons, he was surprisingly glad for Haikuan’s company. They had never quite been friends who hung out one-to-one when they had been younger, Haikuan had always been old enough to have another peer group to do that with, but now, they had both lived enough years for age to be of any real issue. 

He helped Yixuan carry Seungyoun into his room when they got to the dorms. He knew Seungyoun shared the room with Yibo. It didn’t have a lot of their personal effects like their house in China had had. There was a line of closets affixed to the wall on one side. The other side had a table that had random bits of things, nothing all that specific to either of the boys. He didn’t know that he had been looking for some essence of Yibo in the room until he felt its absence. He didn’t linger on that realization and allowed Yixuan to take over, taking his leave soon after. 

When he got back to the hotel, he walked over to the bar to grab a drink before going up to his room. He felt restless and knew that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep right away. He missed home, strangely enough. Missed his own bed. Halfway through the first drink, he thought of booking an earlier flight home. But really, there was no point. The flight back was at 7:30 in the morning, which was only 7 hours away. 

“Xiao Zhan”. He heard someone calling his name from the other end of the bar and looked over to find Jackson tipping a drink in his direction. Yibo and a few others were with him. He nodded with a smile and tipped his glass in their direction. 

Well, that was that. This space had been invaded as well. 

He downed the rest of his drink and stood up, closing out his tab sooner than he had been expecting. He waved to them and gestured that he was done for the night and Jackson yelled back something that he didn’t quite catch. It didn’t really matter anyways. It was unlikely to be a question or any sentiment requiring a response. 

He had gotten into the elevator and the door had almost closed when someone put their hand in between to get the door to reopen. 

And then Yibo was walking in.

He raised an eyebrow when Yibo just leaned against the opposite wall from him. “You’re alone?” he asked.

“Hmm… Haikuan will come later."

Yibo nodded. “Seungyoun didn’t give you any trouble?” he asked after a moment.

He shook his head. 

Yibo hadn’t pressed a button for a floor and he was about to ask where he was going when Yibo asked, “Do things have to be awkward between us?” 

It caught him by surprise and it took him a moment to answer. “They’re not awkward.”

“That must be why you avoid talking to me.”

His eyebrows furrowed together at this assessment. “You were with company. There was really no opportunity to talk. It’s not a big deal.”

Yibo tilted his head and studied his face. Then said, “We can talk now.”

“Sure.” He said just as the elevator door opened to his floor. 

“Where?” Yibo asked, not making any attempt to get out. 

His room was definitely not a good option. Not to mention, that was a surefire way for Yibo to find out that he and Haikuan did not share hotel rooms. 

He let the elevator door close and then pressed the button to the topmost floor where there was a hotel-patrons-only bar that stayed open way longer than the ones downstairs that closed at 2 am. 

“No one is going to come looking for you?” he asked as they rode up the elevator.

Yibo shrugged. “Jackson and a few others are here for tonight. Hyungs and my manager know that I’m here. So…”

“And Jackson is okay with you being gone for an indefinite period of time?”

The elevator dinged and opened, the floor bathed in softer lighting than the others.

As they stepped out, Yibo asked, “Hmm… in which universe would you keep me indefinitely?”

He looked over, surprised, but saw Yibo smile.

He smiled too, but otherwise stayed away from that landmine. 

The bar only had a few patrons spread out here and there and they found two sofa chairs by the large glass windows with a spectacular view of the night sky. 

They put in their drink order, a glass of red each, and sat back, looking out the window.

“I saw you and Haikuan at our concert two months ago.” Yibo said softly, drawing his attention.

Their drink orders came just then and he waited until the waiter left before speaking. “Have to occasionally get a first-hand experience of how you guys are doing.”

Which was very well. UNIQ was doing very well. They had already started to sell out their concerts, even outside of Korea, although they had not had one in China as yet.

“You ever planning to bring us back home?”

There was a slightly wistful note to Yibo’s tone. 

The boys had already been back to China twice to go home to their families, so this wistfulness was surprising. 

“You can come home anytime.” He reminded.

“You’re going to let me visit your mom?” 

“My mom? Why do you want to visit my mom?”

“She… seems nice.” Yibo said, looking away.

It struck him then that Yibo’s mom had passed away when he was quite young. 

“Well, she would love to have you. Anytime. Honestly. I’m pretty sure by now she prefers you to me.” He said, although he thought afterwards that that last bit was maybe laying it on too thick.

“She could prefer no one to you.” He said and Xiao Zhan looked up. Yibo’s expression was sweet, maybe a bit envious.

Which he confirmed a moment later when he said, “I was so jealous of you the first time I saw you two together.”

“You mean, the time when she lowkey said that she would have seduced you if you were not gay?”

Yibo smiled at the memory. “Some women can sense that I grew up without a mother. It must be some sort of subconscious signal I send out. Madame Yu was like that.”

He raised an eyebrow. He had always wondered why Madame Yu had seemed so partial to Yibo, allowing Yibo his privacy at the risk of bypassing the Daytoy Room’s regular protocol when Xiao Zhan had never known her to do that for anyone. 

“I don’t meet any client without thoroughly vetting them. You’re the only one I’ve met without even a picture. And only based on her recommendation.”

“She didn’t think you would agree to meet me if you knew what I looked like.”

He chuckled. “I guess Madame Yu knew something about me that even I didn’t.”

“Why? Is there some physical feature of mine that is a deal-breaker for you?” Yibo seemed genuinely curious.

It took him by surprise that Yibo hadn’t guessed. But then again, how would he?

“The whole thing.” He said, smiling.

“Really?” Yibo’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t find me attractive?” 

Xiao Zhan rolled his eyes. “Oh yea, I don’t find you attractive was the reason the sex was as good as it was.” He was surprised that he brought up the sex, although it was likely a subject that they needed to be comfortable discussing if they ever wanted to move past it.

He saw the flush to Yibo’s neck, but then again, his glass of wine was almost gone too. 

“Then?” Yibo asked, plugging on past the sex.

“Too pretty. You’re too pretty. I don’t fuck pretty boys.”

There was a twinkle in Yibo’s eyes now and he tried to keep a straight face as he said, “You don’t fuck anyone, _technically_.”

His glass of wine was almost gone too and it made his tongue loose enough that he agreed with a smile, “ _Technically_.”

“Then, what’s your type?” he asked.

“Aaron Kwok in his 30s.”

Yibo whistled. That got them both laughing. “Damn, yes, that is a good-looking man. Although he had a pretty boy phase too.” 

“Yes, but very short-lived.” Xiao Zhan contented, before adding, “You could see the GQ in him waiting to burst out any moment.”

“That’s definitely a type.” Yibo allowed.

“What about you?” 

Yibo thought about that for a moment. “I’m not sure I have a type.”

“Oh come on, everyone has a type.”

“I guess, but I have been attracted to all different types, so I’m not sure that puts me into one particular category of preference.”

“So the miniskirt and fishnet were not a type? Or the historical drama costumes?” 

Yibo laughed at the memory now. “I guess I like to experiment. Why, you don’t?”

“Almost all my formative years were an experiment.” 

Yibo raised an eyebrow.

“My mom used to dress me as a girl until I was eight. Like every day. Only dresses. Not even jeans. Long pretty dresses that looked like I was some long-lost tiny country’s hidden princess.” He smiled at the memory as Yibo’s eyes widened.

“Oh come on, can’t you tell my mother is a bit odd?”

“Refreshingly so.” Yibo agreed, smiling. “But still, only dresses? Didn’t you get made fun of?”

“Who would dare in front of my mother? Besides, I really did think I was a girl. Most of my friends at the time also sort of treated me as a girl.”

Yibo stopped smiling, finally seeming to understand the true nature of what Xiao Zhan was saying.

“So, when did… you find out that you were actually a boy?”

“When I was like 8. My brother had started to become a bit mean about it by then, so…”

“You mean, your brother who would have been like… 21 by then?” Yibo interrupted.

“Yibo, he is 41 and he dropped a barbell on your chest just because his girlfriend was giving you the shifty eye. That’s a moment when a normal human being would think, _Shit, if I drop this shit the wrong way, it could kill him.”_

Yibo agreed with an odd sigh.

“Yes, now imagine growing up with that.”

Yibo appeared to consider that, but then said, “By the time you were eight, I am assuming even a 21-year old Wen Xu was no match for you.”

That took him back. He had anticipated that Yibo would have in his head the image of a little Xiao Zhan, helpless in dresses, facing off against a mean-spirited 21-year old Wen Xu. 

But he was right. Even at 8, he had known how to manipulate Wen Xu. But Wen Xu had had the advantage of physical strength and more than once, he had tried to rip the dresses off of him. The last time it happened though, his father had taken off his belt and whipped Wen Xu, but had then given his mother such as look that she had never put Xiao Zhan in a dress ever again. 

He also remembered all the planning that he had had to do to arrange for their father to find them when he had known Wen Xu wouldn’t be able to resist his favorite way of tormenting him. 

“True.” He agreed now, adding, “By then, I was already a full-blown sociopath.”

“Were you really?” Yibo grinned.

“Part of my appeal.” Xiao Zhan gave what he thought was his sweetest smile.

“Survival of the fittest.” Yibo offered with a sly smile.

“Hmm…” he mused. “Have you met many then?” 

“One or two.” Yibo said, now not smiling.

“Hmm… so you must have recognized me right away?”

“Oh you think too highly of yourself. No self-respecting sociopath would be as indulgent with his mother as you are.”

Xiao Zhan tilted his head. “I thought you said you adored my mother.”

“I didn’t. Say that, I mean. But I do. Adore your mother, that is.” He gave a look to show that it was the truth indeed before adding, “Even with her crossdressing disaster, I assume she was what kept you sane in that house.”

“It wasn’t so bad, really. Like you said, I knew how to manage Wen Xu.”

“Hmm… but I imagine it took you much longer to figure out how to manage your father.”

He looked at Yibo now, really looked at him, and he seemed way older than 23. Had that all happened in the last six months? Or had he just been too hoodwinked by that beautiful face to realize that Yibo had never been young. 

“You still don’t quite know how to manage your father.” Yibo said now, seeing that he had his full attention.

“How do you figure?” he asked, putting his empty wine glass down.

“Isn’t that why you sent me away?” Yibo asked. 

Xiao Zhan literally spluttered at this deduction, for a moment wishing he had the wine glass to twist around in his hand for lack of something to squeeze.

“You have a high opinion of yourself…” he started, but Yibo cut him off.

“I do, but that has nothing to do with it.”

“What does it have to do with then?” he asked.

“I was going to say that your father has arrived at the conclusion that _you_ have a high opinion of me. So, this was the easiest way to solve that. Get me out of his hair. His line of sight. His sphere of influence. Whatever.”

“You think I’m in some sort of fake relationship with Haikuan to throw off my father?” he asked, his tone confrontational. 

“No.” Yibo said reflexively before he sat back. “I had not considered that, in fact.”

“Well, if you suspect me of sending you away to Korea – I mean, seriously, send all of UNIQ away to Korea just to get you away? Really though? But if you do suspect me of that, then isn’t that implying that I like you too much still? And if so, why would I be dating Haikuan?” 

Yibo was quiet for a moment, taken aback by the intensity of his outburst. “I didn’t say that you held me in high regard, just that your father assumed you did. And so, it was easiest to send me away rather than deal with whatever else he would do to make sure that I stayed away from you. Also, why would I suspect you of cooking up some fake relationship with Haikuan when it’s evident to anyone who has eyes that you both genuinely like each other?” 

“Oh.” He said, sitting back again.

He felt a little raw. He didn’t know if he should have had one more drink or none at all. 

He decided on the former and flagged down the waiter for another look at the wine menu. But he didn’t see much of the words on the menu anyways and ended up ordering the same drink as before. Yibo did the same.

“Classes are going ok?” he asked once the waiter came back with their second glasses.

Yibo nodded. “I don’t know what I would do without the tutors though, so thank you for that.”

“What would be UNIQ if its maknae got kicked off for dropping below a 3.0?” 

“3.23 is pretty poor though.” Yibo remarked, wrinkling his eyebrows.

“It’s decent.”

Yibo snorted. “What was your GPA?”

“I don’t remember.” He shrugged.

“Bullshit. It was 4.0, wasn’t it?” 

“It was not.” He said calmly.

“Hmm. 3.98 then.”

“Not important.”

“Ah, so 3.98. Smartass.”

“Easy to do when you are wealthy enough to do nothing other than go to school and afford exceptionally qualified tutors in all subjects.”

“Although I will bet my favorite helmet that you did not have tutors.”

True. He did not. He shrugged again. “Are you enjoying your classes?”

“Some more than others.” Yibo said truthfully. “Although I imagine it would have been fun to actually attend classes in person.”

“Probably.” He agreed. He remembered his college years fondly.

“I would have probably had fun in college.”

“Oh you definitely would have.” Xiao Zhan smiled as he agreed again. “There would have been so much ass in your face, you wouldn’t have known what to do with it.”

Yibo grinned now, almost as if he could see it all in his mind’s eye. “What a shame.” He mused with a shake of his head.

“What a shame indeed.” 

They went on like that, nursing the same drink for hours until the dark outside turned into the blue of dawn and Xiao Zhan was reminded that he had a flight to catch in two hours. 

“Haikuan and I’ll drop you off at the dorms.” 

Yibo nodded as they walked out of the bar, no one there now except a few workers lingering behind the counter, fighting yawns.

He sent Yibo downstairs to the lounge to wait so that he could go to his room that he did not share with Haikuan.

Once they dropped Yibo off at the dorms and were on the way to the airport, Haikuan looked in his direction, asking without asking. 

“We just talked. That was all. Nothing else.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation.” Haikuan said, putting a hand over his.

“I know, but I needed to say it out loud.”

“Say what out loud?”

“That I spent five hours in a bar _talking_ with Wang Yibo.” He chuckled now, looking in Haikuan’s direction. “Aren’t you proud?”

Haikuan smiled back. “You did not want to take him to bed?”

Xiao Zhan didn’t answer, but turned to look out the window, although the smile remained.


	21. Family Dinner - With UNIQ - And Family

Part 21

Life goes on like that, although now Yibo occasionally texts him, something about their night-to-dawn conversation giving him unspoken permission to undo the previous ‘no contact’ policy.

The first one is just a link to a Billie Eilish song - _You Should See Me in a Crown -_ with the text saying, “I think she wrote this song about you.”

He texts back that he has never heard the song. Then he clicks on the link. It’s not the actual video, but a fanmade one with lyrics.

While he is listening, Yibo’s next text arrives, _I’m gonna run this nothing town._ _Watch me make them bow one by one by one. One by One by One…_

He laughs and texts back. “One day.”

Two weeks later another text arrives, “So, I like proofs, it turns out.”

“Which one?” he texts back.

“Proof by contradiction.”

Yibo’s texts are always random like that, sporadic in the way random texts are, but forming a sort of tenuous connection between them. 

A few weeks later, another one. _Full of myself, but still hungry. I bully myself ’cause I make me do what I put my mind to._

He has no idea of the reference and has to Google it. 

Then writes back, “Which one of the Great Classics is sending you to find inspiration in Eminem?”

 _The Dream of the Red Chamber._ Comes the reply.

“Aah! Is it working?” 

_“_ Well, to quote another great philosopher of the rap genre…” Yibo’s text starts.

 _Be Humble. Sit Down._ The next text wraps up.

He laughs. Once again, he has to rely on trusted aunty google to come through. Kendrick Lamar. The names of the artists he knows, the songs, he does not.

“Just do the cliff notes version. You’re not doing a thesis on it.”

Then a month goes by with nothing. He sort of misses it. And wonders if Yibo had gotten tired of always initiating the messages. 

He wonders if he should say something. But then stops himself and does what he always does when he wants to see Yibo.

YouTube him.

Today, it’s some old video of Yibo and Seungyoun messing around to [GD’s Good Boy](https://youtu.be/a5loCB-y2Fw). Yibo’s quite young in this, his hair platinum blond, his face barely out of the boyishness of adolescence. There’s some serious guyliner action going that makes him this beautiful boy. The boy part is undeniable because even back then, that Adam’s apple is distinct. Yibo is bony though, dressed in an oversized pink sweater, but somehow there’s nothing girlish about him despite everything. He is just beautiful. And smirks a whole lot, like he knows that he is. Everyone around him has validated it. Yibo is different now, he thinks. It’s not that Yibo doesn’t still know that he is beautiful, but maybe that’s not so important anymore. Like he has found other parts of himself that he finds much more interesting. And maybe the beauty is distracting at times too, from more important things. 

He is not sure how right he is… it doesn’t matter anyways. He likes learning about Yibo this way, by watching all publicly available visual records of him. At his leisure, in his privacy, with no one judging him one way or the other for it.

A week later, he still hasn’t heard from Yibo and so he watches another video. This one of his motorcycle races. He hadn’t watched too many of these yet, finding the catalogue of UNIQ videos much more interesting. But now he thinks he has gotten through everything that he can find on UNIQ, multiple times, and for new content, hits on the ARRC competition videos. The first one that he sees is the one that Yibo won, although the video is more than 4 hours long and he has to do some digging before he finds Yibo’s race. 38 racers in total. He is in second place almost all the way to the end, but somehow comes out first at the very end. He looks tired and incredibly skinny, the riding suit that he has on that should be formfitting somehow still a bit loose on him. There is a slight smile when he is holding the trophy, but otherwise, the boy looks like he needs to sit down. Lie down. Sleep. 

He falls asleep with the video on and his Youtube is set to autoplay, so when he wakes up four hours later, his clock reading 4:02, his laptop is at 1% and some random motorcycle show is playing. He plugs in his laptop and takes a quick shower, figuring starting on his work early is not a bad thing. He goes downstairs to get a cup of coffee and finds that his mother is there already. 

“You have the pot on already?” he asks and she nods, getting him one too. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asks once they carry their coffees to the small dining table by the kitchen’s bow window. It looks out to the back of the house and, while the view gives a different perspective than the one from the balcony, it is not any less glorious, especially now with the sun still a halo than the blaze it will be in a few hours.

“Dad’s coming this weekend.” She says, sipping her coffee.

He watches her curiously. “Is that why you’re up early?”

She smiles and shakes her head. “I like this time of day. My head is always the clearest and calmest at this time.”

“How is it being a CEO now that it’s… what, going on 10 months or so... on the job?”

She smiles again. “You and Haikuan leave me only the glamorous parts. So, what’s not to like?”

“Oh come on, mom, don’t sell yourself short like that.” 

In the ten months, his mother had disbanded two existing girl groups and retained a select few from each group to make a new one. He would have never thought of the combination, but the last time he heard them, he had thought it a shame to call them an idol group. They sing ballads in the voice of women. Two of them are also decent songwriters. His mother spends quite a bit of time with them and all her attention seems to make the girls better, more sure of the voice that they have, rather than the one that they had previously been taught to sound like. Their physicality is also different, they didn’t all fit the same mold of what constituted beauty. His mother seems intent on highlighting that. The group is going to be interesting to promote, but now Wen Entertainment is making enough money to take a few indulgent risks. Also, his mother has also made it clear that she will support them – she calls them her _Steel Magnolias_ – personally as long as she has any wealth to her name. He had asked her if she wanted to be a true old school patron, taking on artists for life. She had mused that maybe that should be her life’s legacy. 

He reminds her of all that now. “Your life’s legacy? Did you forget?”

She laughs and takes another sip of the coffee. “What’s so difficult about spending time with beautiful women who sing like angels?”

Her smile is genuine now and he is glad. Usually, she only smiles like that for him, about him, to him and nothing else. 

“How’s my baby lion?” she asks now, the question coming out of nowhere. Her eyes are twinkling. And he revises his earlier thought. Yibo also makes her smile like that. At first, he had assumed it was because she thinks Yibo makes him happy, but now, he thinks that she might adore Yibo for just being Yibo. She video-calls Yibo on occasion, he knows, he has seen her do it, although he never gets on the call even if he is around. 

“How would I know? You’re the one who talks to him.” he says, taking a sip from his cup.

“Oh, you never talk to him?” 

“I actually don’t.” A sporadic text here and there does not qualify as talking. “How often do you talk to him anyways?” he asks now, curious.

“Not that often. Maybe like once a week.”

He almost spits out his coffee. “Once a week? _Once a week_?” 

“It’s not a long conversation. Just, how are you? Fans giving you trouble? When are you coming to see me? That type of thing. That boy is not the most talkative person. Although he smiles a lot when I call him. And I do adore his smile.”

His heart feels like pudding for a moment and he focuses on sipping more of his coffee.

“He asked me if I’ll let him come see you sometime.” He says now, a whole four months after that conversation with Yibo.

“He did?” her eyes are wide. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“What? So dad can watch Yibo visiting us on all the video feeds from around the house?” he asks and his mother’s smile dims.

“That’s true.” She says, sitting back. “It doesn’t have to be at the house.” She remarks all of a sudden, sitting back up. “You can have him meet me for brunch at one of our hotels.”

“Mom…” he says.

“I know, I know. The fans, the paparazzi…” she peters off.

“Not to mention, he has no time.”

“Okay, yea.” She seems so disheartened for a moment that he wonders if he could just fly her to Korea for a one-day trip and she can visit with all the boys.

xxxxxx

The next day, his father arrives home in the afternoon. And literally two hours later, caterers start arriving at the house that neither he nor his mother ordered. They tell his mother that they are there at the order of Wen Ruohan and go about setting up what appears to be a veritable feast. 

He and his mother stand amidst the catering staff in the dining room, the house staff also watching in surprise, standing off to the side. There has never been an event that has occurred at the house that his mother did not authorize, much less had no knowledge of.

At some point, he pulls aside what appears to be the lead guy amidst the group and asks him how many people they are setting up for. “Sixteen.” He says before rushing off to finish up.

“Sixteen?” he asks, turning to his mother. “Is there some new company dad is trying to bulldoze?” 

She shrugs. If his father hadn’t bothered to tell them what this was for, then it also followed that this has nothing to do with them. They retreat upstairs, out of the hair of the catering crew, and move to the east-wing tea room, which offers a good view of the driveway. 

A half hour after the catering van leaves, another car arrives, then another, then another, and then two more. 

He looks out the window, expecting to see some corporate suits or middle-aged men decked out in full-golf-gear to get out of the cars and is surprised when three sets of middle-aged couples emerge from the first three cars. Two middle-aged men emerge from the last two cars. They all seem to know each other as they immediately form a cluster together, laughing and hugging each other. Something about at least some of them seem familiar, but he can’t quite figure out what. 

“Mom, come here.” He calls and when he turns back, it’s to see a stretch limo pull up behind all the other cars. And then he knows who they are.

“Are those the UNIQ boys?” his mom asks from behind him, pushing him out of the way in order to see better, her focus only on the limo and not the rest of the people her age standing in their driveway looking at the limo’s arrival.

For a moment, he doesn’t think he can speak. And then he does. “Yes, and their parents.”

The next few minutes, they only watch as the boys run out of the car and to their parents. Seungyoun and Wenhan are literally sobbing as they hug their parents, while Sungjoo, Yixuan, and… _Yibo_ … are more reserved, but still clearly emotional, as they also hug their parents. 

“This is who your father is hosting?” his mother asks in wonder.

“What the fuck is he playing at now?” he asks, his entire body on pins and needles.

xxxxxxx


	22. Guessing Games

Part 22

The thing about his father is that he is a master at doing things that makes his audience spend hours trying to guess at his motives. Fuck hours. Days, Months… Years. 

The fact that he could still do that to his younger son, the one who has seen him play his games all his life and could generally guess at his endgame, was telling in how much Xiao Zhan still had to learn.

And now, he was at a loss as to his father’s endgame. 

The first possibility is still that his father wants to make him understand that if there is any part of him that values Yibo above and beyond his loyalty to his family – _every single member_ of the immediate family – then there are so many different ways that he could fuck up Yibo’s life. That is still the hypothesis that makes the most sense. 

The second one is basically his father’s way of letting him know _I have sniffed out your weakness and I’m going to remind you from time to time that I know, even if you send him away and try to hide him somewhere in the hopes that I’ll forget, I still know. And through him, I have gained control over how I can manipulate you. So…_

There are still a few more permutations of the above two hypotheses that involved his father using his knowledge of his Yibo weakness for various nefarious purposes, but the endgame is always showing his younger son who has power and control between the two of them. 

The last of the possibilities – and this is a remote possibility indeed, as it involves his father having some typical mammalian capability for connecting with his offspring – is that he has identified a heretofore absent weakness in his younger son, an immense fondness for another human being. And in the fashion of any concerned and loving parent, he is going through the process of vetting the object of his son’s affections (and his family) and prepping him to be the best possible version of himself so as to be worthy of said son. Xiao Zhan considers this last possibility merely as a thought experiment, in the interest of considering all possibilities. As history and the general state of affairs of the Wen family provides no substantiated evidence to support this last theory, he leaves it behind.

So back to what made his father so great at what he did. Yes… everything he has thus far done regarding Yibo has been ambiguous. There is a sinister threat that hung in the air that you sensed only if you knew Wen Ruohan well. And Xiao Zhan did. He knew his father well. Saw him greet the families now as they were led into the enormous drawing room, shaking their hands one by one, even offering a slight smile at Yibo’s father. Although, immediately afterwards, his father looks in his direction to make sure that he had seen that. 

He feels powerless for a moment, a fear snaking through him that he hadn’t entertained in a long while. He thinks his father’s eyes are telling him, _As much as you think you have control over any of this, I still managed to get all these people here without you or any of your minions knowing. The games you play with me, I indulge. Don’t mistake that to mean that somehow you’ve grown beyond my reach._

His mother slips into the role of the welcoming hostess with a fluidity that only came from a veritable lifetime of practice with rolling with things that she had no time to prepare for. She is hugging all the parents now and then the boys and showing them to the various couches and armchairs around the room. The appetizers that had been set up in dining room are being served by the house-staff. And despite whatever he feels inside, his face slips into a mask of hospitality. Although, the boys and their parents are so genuinely delighted at the occasion that soon enough, he decides to forget – at least temporarily – his trepidation and misgiving regarding why this is all arranged by his father in the first place.

Seungyoun’s parents and Wenhan’s parents are quite gregarious, the most jovial of the group. Yixuan’s parents are somewhat older than the others, although quite warm and sweet. They all seem rather protective of the two widowers of the group, their body language and little unconscious actions – like Seungyoun’s parents waiting until Sungjoo’s father took a seat before sitting themselves and Wenhan’s mother making a plate of appetizers for Yibo’s father – indicating a sort of camaraderie that only came from years of knowing each other. 

He tries not to do it with an obvious way, but his gaze returns to Yibo and his father time and again; they occasionally murmur to each other, Yibo’s entire body turned towards his father on the couch that they are sitting on, but as compared with the rest, they are the most quiet of the group. 

For his part, Wen Ruohan stays out of the fray, more content to sit back in his seat and watch. It puts Xiao Zhan on edge, but then again, this is how his father tends to proceed in general. Get a group together, get everyone to relax, and watch them in their comfort. It was the best way to gather information about people. 

As long as his father is here, he knows that he cannot relax. Yibo is aware of it too, because even though they don’t directly talk to each other, he sees Yibo occasionally look in the direction of his father and then at him. Not in an obvious way, but given how he is aware of what Yibo is doing at all times – even when he isn’t directly looking at him – it’s hard not to notice. 

He wonders what he can do that could get his father out of the house without drawing notice to his own role in it. Then decides against any such attempts. Nothing would do it without giving him away. Which would only reinforce to his father how jittery he made him when it came to Yibo. 

Against all odds, however, it’s Wen Xu who comes through. Although, in classic Wen Xu fashion, it’s not in a pleasant way. It comes first in the way of a phone call to his father; he sees his father take the call, grow irate on the phone, and then excuse himself to walk out of the drawing room. He catches his mother’s eyes and she returns the look, a silent acknowledgment, but then she returns to entertaining. 

A few minutes later, his father calls him out of the room. 

“Wen Xu is causing a bit of a ruckus at the Blue Lotus.” 

Blue Lotus is at least an hour away. Even if he leaves now, he won’t make it back by tonight, especially because he doesn’t know what kind of trouble Wen Xu has gotten into.

“I can leave in five.” he says without hesitation. Now that he is not directly under Wen Xu, he is not always required to go fix Wen Xu’s troubles, but given that his father is telling him the news, he assumes that is what he expects. 

For a moment, his father looks taken aback that he offered, and he wonders if he has erred somewhere. Should he have not offered? Had he been too quick to offer? He hates second-guessing himself and it makes him feel off-kilter. This is why he hates emotional entanglements. Despite your best efforts, you always wonder if your capability for remaining objective and rational is eroding away.

“I think this might require me. He was found in bed with Jin Guangshan’s daughter. Madame Jin is furious.”

“Jin Su?” he asks, unable to keep the shock from his voice. That is not Wen Xu’s usual crowd. Jin Su is the second child and only daughter of Jin Guangshan, the CEO of Jin Group. They are not quite as wealthy as the Wen Group, but they are _old_ money. And quite powerful because of it. Someone his father would not care to piss off. Madame Jin dotes on Jin Su. Which means…

“I am anticipating this will have to end at the altar. And that too, sooner rather than later.”

He nods. What else is there to do. That is the only remedy that would at least partially appease Madame Jin. He feels badly for Jin Su though. He had thought her smarter than this. Picking Wen Xu for a bedmate. Soon to be life-mate. What was she thinking? Or was this some elaborate ruse for an altar ending? He would like to think not. 

“What do you need me to do?” he asks, his brain-wheels already turning. The wedding would involve a whole host of business entanglements, of course, a headache that he wouldn’t entirely escape from. 

“Stay here.” His father says and he looks up in surprise. 

“I can’t leave your mother to manage all of them by herself.” He adds as if that suffices as an explanation.

He is surprised. He would think his father would not want him to spend any more time with Yibo. Or his family. At least not outside of his watchful eye. Although, it is also true that both father and son taking off at once would only set off alarm bells of scandal, which his father would likely want to prevent. At least until he goes to resolve the situation successfully. 

He nods. 

“They are all staying at the Blue Ginger.” The fact that his father had gotten that many reservations at one of their hotels nearby and neither he nor his mother had found out is… not worthy of further thought. 

“They are all private reservations.” His father adds. 

Of course. How else could he have kept it under wraps? They are all on the top floor in the penthouse suites, he learns. All of them have trains and flights back tomorrow. The boys have a day off though. Their flight back is in the evening.

He nods neutrally to everything, knowing that his father is watching him carefully. 

And then Wen Ruohan is gone. To resolve a situation that is going to end with a sister-in-law. 

xxxxx

There is a collective sense of relief amongst the boys once they learn that Wen Ruohan has been called away on urgent business. Their parents appear to pick up on the shift in energy and they too relax. Well, it helps that his mother has started plying the group with wine, Baiju, and a collection of craft beer that are his father’s favorites.

Dinner is a loud affair, his mother getting on quite well with the group and all the parents regaling each other with stories of their kids. 

He learns that Seungyoun lived in Brazil and the Philippines for a brief bit and Wenhan’s first serious aspiration was to be an Olympics swimmer. 

As for Yibo, well, his father recalls affectionately, Yibo’s grandmother had been his greatest fan and most ardent supporter and it had been at her behest that he had agreed to send his only child off to Korea at the tender age of 13. 

“I am quiet by nature. After my wife passed, my mother was our rock. She and Yibo were more like friends than anything else. Maybe she knew that when she passed, he would be stuck with just me in the house. And that wouldn’t do.” He laughs a little self-deprecating laugh and Yibo takes his hand to squeeze it. 

“Besides, he had all these talents that we didn’t know what to do with. It seemed best to give him over to someone who knew how to showcase them well.” There is fondness there in his voice, but also maybe regret… an explanation to a young son who had been send off to a different world before he discovered the loneliness of the parent left behind. Left behind in more ways than one.

Although he thinks Yibo understands. If not back then, then definitely now.

Wenhan’s parents voice their appreciation time and again for the boys getting this second chance to continue as a group. 

“It’s really our fortune.” His mother says, and she is the best at this, of conveying how truly lucky Wen Entertainment is to have acquired UNIQ. 

After dinner, his mother moves them all to the entertainment room and there are several rounds of karaoke, piano, and acapella, not in any particular order other than the sentiment of the moment. 

It’s clear that Yibo’s father has never heard him sing like this in a small group because he seems to be in a different world, enthralled at Yibo’s voice. He especially enjoys Yibo’s version of [Nan hai ](https://youtu.be/1NZrV6ouV_U)which Yibo sings with all the abandon of someone who feels the song on some elemental level, beyond just the words and the music. As if it has just melted into his soul. His _ooh oohs_ break a little in the middle as he has been drinking, but it’s hoarse with emotion and he finishes with a riff on the piano, looking at his father at the end. 

Yibo’s father quickly wipes at his eyes and claps enthusiastically, joining the rest of them, the loudest of all his mother, who is standing up and cheering as if she is determined to be voiceless the next day.

He catches Yibo’s eyes and Yibo smiles in that way of his… head tilted, eyes soft, lips turned up just slightly… the [lyrics](https://youtu.be/32EHAT4G-70) of the song are not lost on him, and now they cascade like a twilight summer wave … filled with regrets and longing…

_Can’t forget your love_

_But the ending was hard to change_

_I couldn’t make you stay_

_Or offer you a promising future like him…_

_Childish boy_

His own angel with his husky voice, singing words that will ring in his dreams for ages to come…


	23. Sigh...

Part 23

The boys and their parents return to Blue Ginger soon after. As soon as their cars and the limo leaves, his mother’s fatigue shows. She has also had more than her quota of Baiju – something she rarely indulges in – and she is practically hanging off his arm as he takes her upstairs to her room.

He tells her about Wen Xu and Jin Su and she takes in the news dispassionately, although after a moment says, “Poor girl.” 

Just before he leaves her at her bedroom door, she takes his face in her hand and says, her voice slurring, “You are in love with him, aren’t you?”

He doesn’t answer, but she doesn’t expect a reply from him anyways. He kisses her on her temple and murmurs, “Good night mama”. 

The next day, after their parents are gone, the boys are free to explore at will until their flight at 8 in the evening. It’s a Sunday and he thinks that maybe he will text Yibo to see how things are. But then decides against it. It was likely their only free day. He wants them to do as they pleased rather than having their time fully monopolized by the Wen family. 

He learns from his mother that his father has dealt with the Wen Xu issue and has flown to Japan already. Wen Xu has been advised to return home, which he assumes will happen by lunchtime. His mother has gone off to brunch with her friends. And while he wants to stay home and rest for the day, the prospect of running into Wen Xu is enough to get him out of the house. 

He meets up with Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang for brunch. They ask him about retiring from the DayToy Room so early in his fledgling career as a fantasy specialist. He laughs at that description, although that life does seem ages ago now. They have heard the murmurings that he is dating Haikuan and assumes that is the reason why and he doesn’t correct them. It’s good to see them again. They are two of the least pretentious people he has ever met in his life and seeing them from time to time is like replenishing his faith that life exists outside of the world that he has been born into. 

He briefly walks around the city, but the brunch sits heavy in his belly and he hadn’t slept all that well last night. His office is the only place where he can find solitude on a late Sunday morning and he walks there, its large LED lit spaces now dim and eerily empty. There is no one putting in weekend hours and he is glad as he walks to his floor and to his room. 

He falls asleep on the couch as soon as he lies down. He sleeps enough to dream, although when he wakes up to his phone beeping, he is in the middle of a weird phantasmagoria where Yibo’s dad is sitting alone on a porch swing, looking out onto an empty winding road, the scene flickering with static like an old VHS tape from the 80s.

He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and checks his phone. 

It’s a text from Seungyoun. “Zhan ge, you want to meet us for lunch?” 

He is still full.

“Where?” he texts back.

“At the hotel. We didn’t really venture out. It seems a hassle to figure out where we can go that doesn’t require security.”

“You’re still in your rooms?” he texts back, surprised.

“Yes, basically. We were just going to get room service and thought we would invite you too.”

“Whose room?” he texts back. 

They had all checked out of their other rooms and had congregated into Seungyoun and Wenhan’s suite, which is a good size. It has a kitchenette and two bedrooms – one master with a king size bed and another smaller one with a queen size - opening into each other. The boys are all congregated into the master bedroom when he arrives, the television tuned into some Kpop channel, with Yibo and Seungyoun watching something on a laptop, lying on their bellies on the bed. Yixuan and Sungjoo greet him first and Wenhan is right behind, Seungyoun jumping off the bed to give him a bear hug. Yibo sits up and nods a greeting, but doesn’t come near him otherwise. He nods back. Before he can worry about where to sit, Sungjoo is ushering him to one of the armchairs near the window.

“So what’s good here, Xiao Zhan?” Sungjoo asks, flipping through the hotel menu.

“Depends on what you’re in the mood for.” He answers.

“Man, I would kill for some wings.” Seungyoun says, falling back on the bed, almost on top of Yibo, but Yibo is quick and dodges just before Seungyoun body-slams him. 

“How the fuck are your reflexes so quick?” Seungyoun asks and Yibo smirks with a, “You’re just slow.”

They go back and forth like that for a bit and Wenhan rolls his eyes. 

“There’s a good wings place not that far from here. You can just have them deliver to the hotel.”

Seungyoun turns around now, once again on his belly, to face him. “Really? Who else wants some?”

“You’re not going to tell the coach?” he asks. It takes a moment for Seungyoun to catch the reference and then he bursts into laughter.

Wenhan realizes then too and asks, “You’ve been watching our old videos?”

From the corner of his eye, he can see Yibo’s look of surprise. 

Well, now that he has outed himself in the first minute itself…

“I’ve been told by a trusted authority that for an entertainment executive, I know essentially nothing of idol groups, so I’ve been trying to do my homework.”

He sneaks a quick look at Yibo and sees that he is smiling, even though his eyes are now on his phone.

“You know, you should restart those UNIQ life uploads that you used to do back in the day.” He turns back now to tell the boys and Yixaun nods and says, “The old Youtube channel is under Yuehua. We’ll need a new one.”

“Easy enough.” He says, making a mental note to put a team on it right away. The need to do a bit of rebranding under Wen Entertainment anyways and what better way to do it than this. Not to mention, this way, he can see them at least every month, even if it’s just on Youtube. 

“So… who took advantage of your poor maknae at his tender age and made him do all those lip-licking and sticking his tongue out at random intervals?” he doesn’t look at Yibo when he asks, posing the question mainly in the direction of the other boys. Seungyoun bursts out laughing and Yixuan is more indulgent, remembering rather fondly, “Oh, he was even prettier when he was a teenager.”

“Impossible…” he murmurs absently and sees Wenhan’s eyes widen slightly. 

Argh, he needs to watch it. This was a surefire way to get in trouble. A quick glance in Yibo’s direction finds that there is a flush climbing up his neck and he sees him lie down on the bed fully to hide it, especially from the now suspicious eyes of Wenhan. 

“I’ve heard it made the girls go crazy.” He says now, attempting to cover up his faux pas and Yixuan nods, “Dudes too. But back then, he didn’t even know his power. He just saw that lip-licking thing in some rap video and went all out, started doing it everywhere.”

“I did not.” Yibo mutters to a chorus of “Yea, you did.”

Seungyoun laughs and adds, “It was so cringe Zhan ge.” Which earns a pillow cushion thrown at him from Yibo, although Seungyoun ducks and it lands in his lap instead. He picks it up and hears Yibo’s “Sorry Xiao Zhan.” 

He gives a quick nod only to find that even the tips of Yibo’s ears are now pink.

Seungyoun jumps on top of Yibo, now yelling something about hitting Zhan ge and this time Yibo doesn’t duck and then there is a yelp and then a groan of pain. And Seungyoun is saying, “sorry sorry sorry” and it reminds him of that video where Seungyoun playfully hits Yibo right in the crotch after practice when they are goofing around and Yibo doubles over and runs around the room in pain. 

“Don’t worry. This happens at least once a week, if not more.” Wenhan says, tossing a pillow at Seungyoun’s head. 

The boys all agree on wings and pull the menu of the place that he tells them about and he sneaks another look at Yibo to find that he is looking this way too.

Seungyoun is now busy trying to get a look at the menu on Yixuan’s phone and he takes the others’ distraction as an opportunity to mouth, “You okay?” to Yibo. 

Yibo nods with a wink and sits up.

“So, is Kuan ge coming too?” Wenhan asks now, startling him. 

“Haikuan is actually out of town.” He says, seeing Yibo’s brief expression of surprise from the corner of his eye. And he notices that Wenhan is looking at Yibo too. 

He looks away, back to the other boys. 

It’s amazing that the boys hadn’t guessed way back when, when he and Yibo had actually had something to cover up. For Wenhan to be suspicious now, when things between him and Yibo were long over, well…

“Jackson called again you know?” Wenhan says, rather loudly now, and he sees Yibo look at Wenhan with an unreadable expression.

“Ooh…” Seungyoun says, turning around to Yibo and grinning. 

And he feels compelled to ask. “Why? Is Jackson interested in someone here?” As if it was not blatantly obvious.

“Maknae baby over here is just a big tease.” Seungyoun says, looking at Yibo.

“I am not.” Yibo says, looking serious now.

“Then go call him back.” Wenhan says, pulling Yibo up off the bed.

Before Yibo can say much else, Wenhan is pushing Yibo into the other bedroom, making sure he takes his phone with him.

Wenhan gives him a brief look afterwards and he gives him a quick smile because what the fuck else is he supposed to do when it’s clear that Wenhan is telling him with so many looks to back off and not hurt his didi, whom he definitely has a soft spot for even if it is no longer romantic. 

Rather than feel annoyed, he feels a sort of affection for Wenhan.

The food arrives before long and then the boys are digging in as if they hadn’t seen food in ages. Which is likely true given their strict diets. As good as the wings look, he abstains. He is still full from his lunch.

They overindulge as long-starved idols are wont to do and two of them pass out in the aftermath, the tv now tuned to some English show that he has no knowledge of. Seungyoun is fighting sleep and lounging next to him, while Sungjoo and Yixuan have passed out on the other side of him, seemingly mid-conversation. 

Wenhan and Yibo are still awake, although he has a feeling that poor Wenhan is fighting sleep only to save Yibo from his clutches. 

He fights the urge to smile, it’s so endearing, and either way, it’s high time he took his leave.

He says as much and gets up to leave and he can almost sense Wenhan’s sigh of relief as he lets out a huge yawn. He wishes them a good flight back and Seungyoun walks him to the door. 

He has just stepped into the elevator and it’s about to shut when he hears running and puts his hand out to prevent it from closing. And then Yibo is inside with him, pressing the button for the elevator to close.

“Wenhan let you go?” he asks without preamble and Yibo doesn’t even pretend to not understand, instead saying, “He’s in the bathroom.”

“Why does it feel like I’m cheating or something?” he asks, leaning back against the wall with just his shoulder.

They haven’t pressed the elevator button to another floor, so it remains unmoving for the moment.

Yibo freezes, his expression falling flat. “I’m sorry.” He whispers. “Am I being inappropriate?” 

In that moment, he has an overwhelming urge to kiss Yibo. Take that look away from his eyes. 

Instead, he shakes his head. Smiles, even though it’s a false sort of smile. “No. I was just saying that because Wenhan seemed protective of you. I wasn’t being serious. We both know we are not doing anything wrong.”

“Is it wrong to talk to you?” Yibo asks and for a moment he can’t control his reaction as he whispers, “Stop Yibo. Don’t ask questions like that.”

“Okay…” Yibo whispers back. 

“Text me when you land, ok?” he asks, hitting the button to open the elevator again.

Yibo nods, stepping out, but he still stands there without walking away. 

He is not about to move away from Yibo first. And so he says, “Now go back. Before Wenhan comes back from the bathroom and notices you gone.” 

He smiles now, his teasing smile, and Yibo breaks into a smile too as if he had just been waiting for it. 

“Later then?” Yibo asks, walking backwards.

“Later.” He nods.

He doesn’t close the elevator door until Yibo disappears from his view.

xxxxxx


	24. Mr. Wang

Part 24

Yibo’s cheeks were a lot chubbier when he was five, he muses, running his fingers over the yellowed edges of the picture still saved in its sleeve in the old album he pulled out of wife’s drawer. There are two other albums like it, but that’s really about it. They marked the end of visual memories organized into neat rectangles chronically cataloguing everything from the time of their wedding to his wife’s passing when Yibo was six. There are pictures that came after, although few and far between, the lot of them stuffed all together into a large manila envelope that resides somewhere next to the neat albums. When nostalgia strikes him, he pulls out the albums rather than the envelope. He had meant to organize the loose pictures into another album – even brought one several years ago – but the album still remains empty on top of the envelope. 

In some sense, his life had partially come to a stop when his wife died. Once Yibo left for Korea, most of the other part had gone too. He had lived on though, his mother along for company. In some sense, it was as if they had come full circle to the beginning once more, the ones who had entered their lives to become family ultimately leaving earlier than they had hoped for, and it was back to just the two of them once again. 

His mother had doted on Yibo. Looked forward to getting his calls, his visits, but then she too passed on a mere four years later, just a month after Yibo debuted. And then it’s only him. Yibo had wanted to buy him a flat in Beijing, but he had refused. He had only ever lived in Louyang. He still works in Louyang. His friends and community are all here. While his son no longer has any lasting ties to this place other than him and their home, it’s all he himself has ever known. 

Yibo frets now more than he used to, frets over the fact that his father lives alone, that he can’t come back to see him as often as he would like, that he won’t even be able to come as soon as he needs to in the event of an emergency. He reminds Yibo that he has lived alone for a long time and enjoys the solitude – not exactly a lie, it is true on some days. He tells Yibo that just because he can’t come back as often as he would like doesn’t mean that they can’t have contact – he has given him an excellent phone and videocalls him often – although as they are two peas in a pod, their phone conversations are barely five minutes long each time. As for emergencies, he is surrounded by people he has grown up with all his life and at least someone checks in with him daily, although he knows some of that is Yibo’s doing; every time Yibo comes back, he brings gifts for all the neighbors and in all his short and sweet conversations, he smoothly puts in some variation of, “Check in on my dad from time to time. You have my number if you need me.” When they come to sit on his porch for idle chatter at least twice a week, they never fail to tease him about how much Yibo worries about him. 

He wonders if the visitor that he had yesterday is also Yibo’s doing. Although he thinks not. Xiao Zhan had casually dropped in their conversation that there was really no need to let Yibo know that he had visited. It was just his way of taking care of UNIQ, he had said; he had visited all the families. He hadn’t stayed long, just a half hour or so, but he had brought over some fruits. They were all Yibo’s favorites, he noticed with a smile. 

No one from Yuehua had ever done anything personal like this, even though Yibo had been with them for ages. He had also never been to any Yuehua executives’ mansions, so that had also been unexpected. The Wen patriarch was intimidating, just as he would have expected. The son, on the other hand, had been a surprise. 

With his long hair, skinny frame, and big long eyes, Xiao Zhan looked like one of those models that he had seen in magazines he bought only because Yibo had been in it. At their house, Xiao Zhan had been warm, especially around his mother, seemingly always aware of where she was in the room, what she needed, sometimes even before she knew it herself. He had been impressed at first, although half-way through the night he had thought that that level of attunement to another human being only came from some kind of fusion. Like he was a child who had taken it upon himself to be his mother’s shield… in a way that it had become second nature… like maybe he himself did not realize all the subtle ways in which he revealed to the observer that he was his mother’s anchor. Although the lady herself was a force of nature. Quite larger than life. Seemed comfortable in her own skin like no one he had ever met before. And evidently Yibo’s greatest fan too, he remembered with a smile. She had cheered him at the end of Nan Hai as if he had been her own child. It had warmed his heart and for once, he had not felt it so keenly for Yibo for losing his mother so early in life. Even before he had lost his own. It had seemed an unfair demand that life had made of him. And how permanent it had been. 

xxxx

A month later, Xiao Zhan comes again, although this time, he checks in with him several days before to ask whether it’s okay to come. There are more fruits this time too, although he stays for almost an hour instead of just 30 minutes. He shows him the new YouTube channel that Wen Entertainment is unveiling for UNIQ. It’s going to try to post at least one video every two weeks. He adds it to his YouTube subscriptions; most of the existing subscriptions are all to channels that had hosted Yibo’s variety or dance shows over the years. He is still subscribed to UNIQ’s original channel, although they have had no updates in almost 4 years. New episodes will start airing next week, so Xiao Zhan asks him to keep his eyes peeled for those. And then he is gone. 

xxxx

A month later, Xiao Zhan comes again, once again checking in several days before and arriving on a Sunday. The fruits arrive today as well, although now he also brings a large tablet with a stand that he affixes at one end of the living room and tells him that it has a bigger screen that he can use for video-calling with Yibo. He thinks it a hassle, but allows Xiao Zhan to set it up anyways and they even do a video-call with Xiao Zhan’s phone and then he thinks that yes, this is better indeed. He would be able to see Yibo better. By the time they are done puttering around with the phone, almost two hours have gone by. Xiao Zhan needs to head back. He thinks to ask him where he is going to next while Xiao Zhan is putting on his shoes and he absently murmurs, “home.” 

Home is Beijing. 

“Oh, are you taking the train then?” he asks when Xiao Zhan’s cab arrives. 

He nods as he gets into the cab and calls out, “I’ll call you on the tablet when I get back, Mr. Wang.”

Beijing is at least 4.5 hours by the bullet. He wonders then where Xiao Zhan had been coming from. Because it is impossible that he took that train for 4.5 hours in the morning to come see him for a few hours only to once again make that same ride back home. Makes no sense.

Xiao Zhan calls him that evening from his home. “I got back safe and sound, Mr. Wang.” He says from what looks like an enormous kitchen. And then his mother is there too, waving to him. “One of these days, Xiao Zhan will have to bring me to Luoyang, Mr. Wang. I have never been. I hope you will show us around.”

“Of course.” He says, smiling. But once he hangs up, he is confused. He doesn’t know any boss who is this personally invested in their employees. 

Yibo’s birthday is just three days after that and he gets to use his new tablet to video-call him for the first time. And the quality is indeed better. Yibo notices too and asks what is different. 

“Xiao Zhan brought me a new tablet. It’s fixed in the corner so I don’t have to move it. It’s much better to see me now, isn’t it?” he asks. 

For a moment, Yibo doesn’t say anything. And then he asks, ‘ _Who_ brought you a tablet?”

“Xiao Zhan. You know, the VP at Wen Entertainment? We met him at his house that day?” 

Yibo looks confused for a second. “Wait a minute, he ordered this for you?”

“Well, I assume he brought it for the others too. And no, he didn’t order it for me. He brought it over.”

“When?” 

“Three days ago.” He says. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Yibo asks and he vaguely remembers something about Xiao Zhan asking him to not necessarily tell Yibo about him coming here, although he now forgets why. He thinks it’s good for Yibo to know that UNIQ has a genuinely good employer who actually takes great care of their members.

“I’m telling you now. Besides, it’s not the first time he has come here.”

“What?” Yibo looks upset now and he pauses. 

“Sorry Yibo. He came for the first time a few days after that meeting at his house. He only stayed for like a half hour then.”

“How many times has he come there already?” Yibo asks, his voice quieter now.

“Three times. The second time he came, he showed me UNIQ’s new YouTube channel. I saw the two new videos posted. They are so short. Can’t they do longer ones?” he asks.

And for a moment, Yibo lets go of being upset about Xiao Zhan’s visits and tells him that they are still trying to figure out a routine for what to shoot for the UNIQ life videos. They are currently about 5 minutes or so in length. 

“Dad, is he coming there from Beijing?” Yibo asks now, returning to the subject from the detour.

“I think so. He is definitely going back home. Which is Beijing. He called him from his home when he got back last time. His mother was there too. She says she wants to come visit Luoyang sometime. That she hasn’t been. She might just be saying that though. I’m not sure.”

Yibo is quiet after that, watching him closely from the other end. And then he asks, “He asked you not to tell me, didn’t he?” 

He nods, looking away briefly. “It seemed like he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Maybe he thought you would think it’s a big deal, you know.”

“Is it uncomfortable for you when he comes?” Yibo asks and he looks back with a shake of his head.

“Other than that first time, he has always called a few days before to ask me if it’s okay to come visit. It’s always a Sunday so I’m around. Besides, he always has some agenda for how to spend the time, like the YouTube channel and setting up the tablet, so I’m not sitting around here trying to make conversation with a stranger.”

“Will you be able to come home for your birthday?” he asks. The last few years, Yibo has been able to come, although now that he is busy again and in Korea, it will likely be impossible. He shouldn’t have asked and made him feel guilty. 

Yibo shakes his head, although he seems a bit sad about it. “There’s a concert next week.” 

“Ah, I see. Well, next time you’re home, we’ll celebrate.”

They chat for a few more minutes and then it’s time for Yibo to go, although just before he hangs up, he says, “Dad… don’t let Xiao Zhan know that I know that he’s coming there, ok? You’re right. It’s best to not make a big deal out of it.” 

He nods. And for the first time he wonders what his son’s feelings are towards Xiao Zhan.

xxxx

The next week, there is a longer video on the UNIQ life uploads, this time celebrating Yibo’s birthday. Yibo had video-called him that day with a little cupcake and a lit candle on it and had blown it out with a smile, saying, “You have a 24-year old now, dad.” The UNIQ life video shows the celebrations that came afterwards; there had been a livestream with all the boys for 30 minutes that had been flooded with birthday wishes for Yibo and that evening the rest of the members had gotten him a cake, something expensive-looking with a candle that said 24. They had not shown any alcohol on tv, but it’s clear that Yibo has been drinking by the end of it. And when he has been drinking, he takes to singing melancholic songs like an old man who failed in love and life. Today’s it’s Stephanie Sun’s [Wo Huai Nian De](https://youtu.be/aFh0v-L8SJI) and he is singing it in a low voice, crouched between the others, seemingly without notice of the camera taping him. His eyes are closed and his head leans to the side a bit as he moves through the first few verses, but within a few moments, the heart of the song seizes him and he is belting out the chorus as if the words are all about him. Maybe sensing his mood, his hyungs don’t interrupt, although when the song ends, they know that he is a bit gone for the camera and to snap him out of it, Seungyoun asks playfully, “Yibo, you’re going to break all their hearts if you sing like that. Tell the unicorns something before we cut this.”

Yibo looks at the camera and points to himself, then brings his index and thumb fingers together in a heart and then points his index finger to the camera.

Seungyoun takes the mike exuberantly and says, “Did you see that unicorns? That was not even a finger heart, that was a legit full-blown whole-hand heart. Yibo loves you very much indeed.”

There is one more shot of Yibo staring into the camera. It’s intense and he now wonders how much he had to drink.

Then the video cuts out. 

xxxxxx


	25. Prelude

Part 25

He wakes up from his short nap feeling the vibration on his wrist, the alarm letting him know that the train will be pulling into the station in twenty minutes or so. The book that he had been reading is still in his hands, his thumb holding place even in slumber.

It has been almost eight weeks since his last visit to Luoyang. He had called Mr. Wang intermittently, mostly just five or ten minutes here and there, usually with his mother taking over after the first two minutes. He was silently thankful that she didn’t ask why he did this. He had no answer to give her. He didn’t even know why he did this. He had gone to visit Wenhan’s and Yixuan’s families too, although only once. This would be his fourth visit to Luoyang thus far. Something about watching Mr. Wang that day in his house, how he had seemed transfixed by Yibo singing as if for the first time, had stuck with him. What was the point of having a child like Yibo when the world had more of him that you ever did. The way Mr. Wang’s eyes had glistened at the end… it was as if it had never even occurred to him to ask Yibo to sing for him before. As though he didn’t have the right to do so…

Xiao Zhan does not remember ever missing having a father before. Even if he did, he is not even sure that is the reason that he goes to see Mr. Wang. Each time he makes the 4 ½ hour train journey back and forth, he tells himself that this is not something that he can keep doing. The Sundays that he chooses for these visits are all but gone for just this. He doesn’t have enough Sundays in the year to justify monthly trips from Beijing to Luoyang. Ultimately though, it doesn’t matter. He comes because he wants to. If he gets the sense that Mr. Wang doesn’t appreciate them any longer, he will stop. Although monthly was likely too much. Eight weeks seems a good enough interval. He doesn’t have to make quite as many excuses to himself if it’s eight weeks. 

The cab is there to pick him up when he gets out of the train station and it’s just a twenty-minute ride to Mr. Wang’s house. It’s a quiet neighborhood, the sort that in some sense seems a relic from a few decades ago, like something you would see in an 80s reboot show. Mr. Wang knows all of his neighbors; some have even stopped by when he has been there before. The longest he stays is two hours, which is how long he thinks Mr. Wang can tolerate having a guest over. He is still a quiet man, although maybe by now he has warmed to Xiao Zhan’s presence. He has been coming for about five months after all. The last time he had been over, Mr. Wang had brought out Yibo’s old albums, two neatly organized ones with many many pictures of a chubby-cheeked feisty-looking Yibo, often hugged by a woman with a lovely smile. The woman in those pictures is nothing like his own mother. For some reason, he is glad for that. In all the second mothers Yibo has adopted in his life, none has been like the one who birthed him. He is not looking to replace the mother that he lost eighteen years ago. He just enjoys the attention from more mothers, is all. Xiao Zhan can appreciate that sort of loyalty. 

Mr. Wang had also brought out a large envelope with a lot of loose photos and a blank album. He had left it out on the coffee table and said that this was going to be his next project, arranging all those photos into an album that he had bought some years ago. 

He had ordered a scanner and sent it to Mr. Wang’s house a few days ago. It should have gotten there by yesterday. He had told Mr. Wang about the scanner, that this way, they could scan all the pictures in when he gets there and upload it onto the tablet so that it can play those pictures on repeat for a more dynamic album display. He imagined that it would likely take more than two hours. Whatever they didn’t finish this time, they could do when he came back next.

The cab pulls up to the house, breaking him out of his reverie, and he pays before walking up with his reliable bag of fruits. He has wondered whether he should stop bringing them, but it seems the thing to do for those who grew up in Mr. Wang’s generation. 

He rings the doorbell and waits, turning around briefly when someone from the road outside calls out a greeting to him. It’s a neighbor that he has met before. He is waving back when hears the door open. 

“It’s a full house today, huh?” the neighbor calls out before walking on and he wonders if he is interrupting other guests.

“Xiao Zhan.” He hears the deep throaty voice behind him and freezes. 

He is unable to speak for a moment when he turns back around, the shock of seeing Yibo here, so unexpectedly and so far away from their other world rendering him mute… then a pang of longing so strong claws up his insides that it’s all he can do to stand there instead of turning back around to find his cab and train back home.

He thinks he might do that anyway, and suffer the consequences later.

“Ah, there you are!” Mr. Wang is suddenly there, right behind Yibo. 

He smiles automatically, looking beyond Yibo to Mr. Wang, and Yibo finally moves aside to let him come in. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Korea?” he asks once he is inside and it strikes him then truly that Yibo is actually here. In Luoyang. Instead of Korea.

“I took a weekend off.” Yibo says with a shrug.

“He didn’t even let me know. Just showed up last night.” Mr. Wang says with a smile, walking into the living room ahead of them.

He gives Yibo a look. Yibo pretends not to see. 

When he gets to the living room, the scanner has already been set up.

“Yibo scanned all the pictures in once I told him what you ordered this for.” Mr. Wang is saying, walking to the tablet now to turn it on to show the display. The first few are a pouty 6-year old Yibo and the few that come next are slightly older, 7-8 maybe, although now he is less pouty. Less expressive in general. 

“You got more fruits?” He is distracted from the changing picture display when Mr. Wang speaks again and he turns around with a smile to walk into the dining room to put the fruits in the bowl there.

“Have you been cooking?” he asks, following Mr. Wang into the kitchen, ignoring Yibo completely. Which he plans to do until he figures out the best way to deal with the fact that he is here. Aside from all the questions it raised – _how? why?_ – he also needs to deal with the undercurrents that are easier to ignore when Yibo is a 5 ½ hour plane ride away. He tries especially hard to not think about the UNIQ life video the new channel had posted from Yibo’s birthday. About how Yibo had… _No, No… Stop_.

“Well, it’s not all the time that he can come back. So I thought I would make one of his favorites.”

“Isn’t that just dumping vinegar into anything?” he asks teasingly to Mr. Wang, although he hears snickering behind him and looks back to find Yibo leaning against the opposite wall. 

Mr. Wang laughs and opens the lid of the pot. Beef noodle soup, maybe?

“Whoa! That looks serious.” he remarks, trying to inhale the smell as his stomach clenches with a more basic hunger than before.

It must have growled because Mr. Wang looks in his direction and says, “You’re hungry. I always feel badly about not feeding you when you come here, but I didn’t want to assume that you had time to stay for lunch.” 

“Oh no, no, I don’t want to put you out. Honestly.” 

“It’s no trouble. I have to eat anyways. We might as well eat together.”

“Should I be jealous?” they hear Yibo’s voice and give him a brief look before turning back to each other. For a moment, they just look at each other and then Mr. Wang grins. An actual grin. As if it tickled him to hear that his son, _the_ Wang Yibo, could actually be jealous of somebody else.

“You’ve essentially adopted my mother. Why can’t I adopt your father?” he asks absently, taking the bowl of soup that Mr. Wang passes to him.

Mr. Wang’s grin gets wider, but he catches the look on Yibo’s face as he passes by him on the way to the dining room. 

What sort of shit is he saying? He swallows as he puts the bowl down. He has barely enough time to recover before Yibo comes out with his own bowl. And then Mr. Wang is out too. Yibo ushers his father to sit down and gets two glasses from the cupboard and brings out a pitcher of water. He disappears into the kitchen and comes out with a cup of steaming water with a piece of lemon in it and Xiao Zhan wonders if he is not feeling well.

“His throat is always acting up.” Mr. Wang offers in the way of explanation as Yibo takes a seat. 

“It’s fine, dad.” Yibo says.

“When he was younger, maybe 8 or 9, he was in and out of the hospital for a while with myocarditis.” Mr. Wang says and Yibo immediately interrupts with, “Daaad.”

Mr. Wang ignores him. “The doctors had said that he should likely give up dancing. But you know Yibo. When has he ever let a little thing like inflammation of the heart stop him from doing something he wants to do? Much less sore throat?”

He looks at Yibo, who looks back at him and just rolls his eyes.

“So, what happened?” he asks, putting his chopsticks down. 

“He recovered. As if by sheer will.” Mr. Wang says as if that explained it all, smiling again and gesturing at him to eat.

He doesn’t feel like he has an appetite anymore, but picks up the chopsticks anyways.

They eat in silence for a minute before Mr. Wang asks about his mother. Before he can answer, Yibo answers for him and it’s Mr. Wang’s turn to look jealous. 

“They talk every week.” He says to Mr. Wang, rolling his eyes. 

“She just likes to check in. What’s wrong with that?” Yibo asks.

“She has told me eight times already that your second semester GPA is 3.4. I don’t think she was that proud when I pulled 4.0 for the first two years straight at University.”

Mr. Wang is positively beaming now and Xiao Zhan looks at him with an affectionate smile. He thinks he has seen proud fathers before. He must have. Even if his father is not in that category, it seems impossible that he has gone his whole life without seeing a proud father. No, he has. Haikuan’s father is pretty decent. Not that he has spent that much time with Haikuan’s father. But he seems like he would be a proud father. 

Then it strikes him that maybe it’s because Yibo’s father is alone so often that he feels comfortable claiming him a bit. Just a little bit.

“Showoff.” Yibo mutters, although he is smiling now as he takes another bite of his beef.

“What time is your train to Beijing? Is it the same as Xiao Zhan? Maybe you can go together?” Mr. Wang asks then.

“You’re flying out of Beijing?” he asks in surprise. 

Yibo nods. 

“When?”

“In the evening. I’m taking the 2:00 pm bullet to Beijing.”

He swallows hard. He cannot be in the same train as Yibo for 4 something hours.

“Is that the same one you’re taking?” Mr. Wang asks and he nods.

“He is probably in the VIP section.” Yibo says with a smirk, raising an eyebrow when he gives him a look.

“I’m not. I’m in business.” He replies with an eyebrow lift of his own.

“Oh, so is he. Maybe you can sit together.” Mr. Wang says.

“Dad, this is not like school lunch where I can just go sit wherever I want.”

Mr. Wang tsks at that. “I am not so old that I am unaware that reservations can be changed. You still have an hour and a half before the train.”

“It’s alright dad. I’m sure Xiao Zhan wants his privacy.”

Now Mr. Wang is looking at him and he plasters on a smile as he pulls out his phone. “We can see if the seat next to me is open.”

Of course it’s open. He had checked this morning.

“Really it’s no bother.” Yibo says and Xiao Zhan puts his phone down.

“I think Yibo wants his privacy.” He tells Mr. Wang.

And now it’s Yibo on the spot and it’s he who whips out his phone to open the app for the train. “What’s your seat number?” 

And just like that, in the span of five minutes, he has been locked into spending hours on the train with Wang Yibo, the boy that he had sent off to an entirely different country to keep away from him. 

xxxxxx


	26. Luoyang to Beijing - Part 1

Part 26

He had booked the window seat, but he ushers Yibo into that one now, taking the aisle instead.

“I’m fine with the aisle seat.” Yibo says without moving in.

“ _I’m_ not fine with people trying to invade my privacy just because they think there’s a 0.5 percent possibility that it’s Wang Yibo behind the mask and hoodie.”

He can see Yibo’s eyes narrow for a moment, but then he obeys and moves to the window seat. 

Once they sit down, Yibo removes his mask, although he keeps the hoodie up. “This is an inconvenience for you, isn’t it? It’s a long ride and maybe you like traveling alone, sitting by the window and reading a book.” Yibo eyes the book in his hand.

He glares at Yibo for a moment and then leans over to whisper, “It is definitely an inconvenience. An annoyance even. Maybe you want to go back to your original seat. I’m sure it’s empty.”

For a moment, he sees Yibo’s nostrils flare, and he wonders if it’s in anger or upset, but then Yibo turns to look at him, and he sees that it’s actually amusement.

“Does everything out of your mouth mean the exact opposite of what you mean?” Yibo asks. 

He rears back in surprise, although he feels an unbidden smile tug at his lips and bites down on his lower lip to make sure it doesn’t show itself.

Yibo’s eyes drop down to his lips and then the smile is gone just as quickly as it came. He can almost see the moment Yibo’s lids turn heavy, but rather than blast him with the force of that gaze, Yibo turns away, towards the window, raising the shutter a little to look out. 

He swallows hard. The train hasn’t even started for this type of tension to rear its unwelcome head.

They are quiet for a bit after that, Yibo staring resolutely out his window as if the empty middle of the platform holds all the mysteries of the universe. 

The train starts before long and he buries his head in his book. He does not see any of the words, but it allows a useful diversion to regulate his breaths, control his senses, still his hands… any number of betrayals his body seems entirely willing to partake in. Most of all, it contains his eyes from straying to his side when all he wants to do is stare…

And then, as if his eyes willed it into being, they get their chance when within first ten minutes of the ride, Yibo falls asleep, his head rolling gently until he sags onto his shoulder. He holds himself still for a good five minutes, afraid that Yibo will wake up if he moves. But then, his body protests and once he relaxes, his body adjusts naturally to make Yibo more comfortable. 

He is surprised at how deeply Yibo falls into sleep, a light snoring teasing his ear within a few minutes. He listens for a bit, it’s a cute sound, but when he hears the attendant’s footsteps behind him, he turns to press Yibo’s lips together with his hand. The attendant walking by pauses to smile at the picture they make and Xiao Zhan pulls his hand back just as quickly. 

That effectively contains the snoring for the moment, although now that he has felt those lips under his fingers, it’s difficult to not look. One, two, three, four, five gazes are not enough. Because who can look at Yibo’s face, especially his sleeping face, just once. Or five times. And then it’s difficult to look away. 

He didn’t know how long he kept up the creepy staring, although when the attendant came around again, this time offering some edible choices, he quickly averts his gaze to his book. His thumb has slipped away from where he kept place and now he has to go back to the last dogear that he made, which he assumes is at least five pages before the part he was in the middle of reading.

He reads once more to understand where he is at and then reads the same part five more times before giving up completely. He brings out his phone and plugs in his airpods. He meant to listen to some music, but ends up watching – it is likely no exaggeration to say for the two hundredth time – UNIQ life’s last upload. The bit he watches again and again is the last two minutes and before he knows it, he has done the same again now at least ten times in a row. 

He pauses the video when he sees the attendant’s shadow next to him and puts the phone face down on his lap before looking up at her, thinking that he will get a cup of coffee. However, she is not looking at him, but to his right. His mouth goes dry as he turns to his side and sees that Yibo is awake. Not groggy awake. But wide awake. As if he has been awake for some time. 

“Do you have hot water with lemon?” he hears Yibo ask and thinks the attendant answers in the affirmative, but he is not sure over the loud ringing in his ears and the heat beneath his collar. Was there a possibility that Yibo had not seen what he had been watching on his phone on repeat? Could the Universe find it in itself to be that kind? 

“And you, sir?” the attendant asks and he answers… something inaudible. She walks away with a nod and he assumes that his attempt to order his beverage of choice is successful.

This is patently ridiculous. He hadn’t had it this bad even in the worst throes of his crush on Haikuan. And he and Yibo had already fucked. There was no mystery here, nothing unresolved, nothing that should send him into a coronary like the teenager he had never been even at thirteen. 

And yet, here he was.

“What are you reading?” Yibo asks, his voice soft.

Yibo is giving him an out. Without having to acknowledge what he had been doing. 

“Norwegian Wood.” He says, closing the book and tilting its cover in Yibo’s direction.

“How is it?” Yibo asks.

“Good, I think…” he says absently, looking up at Yibo, finally catching his eyes. They are soft and warm. He swallows past the lump in his throat and looks at his watch. They are only an hour in. 3 ½ more hours. Too long. Eternally short. 

“How was your nap?” he asks, looking back at Yibo. It strikes him that Yibo’s eyes have become the center of his gravity. Since the first time he saw him that day in the hotel, even when he looks away, he can’t help but return, something pulling him back without letting him go, no matter how far away they are from each other or how much time passes between each of their meetings.

“It was good.” Yibo says, his cheeks flushing as if he was embarrassed that he had fallen asleep.

“It sounded like it with how loudly you were snoring.”

“I was not!” the embarrassment is gone now as Yibo looks up hotly, as if he had uttered something profane.

“Oh you definitely were.” He says, enjoying this. He leans closer to add, “I even had to hold your mouth shut so that you wouldn’t wake the neighbors.”

“What neighbors?” Yibo asks because there is literally no one else in at least two rows behind or ahead of them.

“The neighbors in first class.” He answers, winking. The attendant is back with their drinks, the same one he had seen all this time and she smiles as she says, “It’s true, he had to hold your mouth closed. But it was a cute sort of snoring. We didn’t mind.” She says as she passes over the hot water with lemon. 

There’s a pink flush to Yibo’s cheeks again and the attendant practically beams at the sight as she pours Xiao Zhan’s coffee. Although she is so focused on Yibo and she almost overpours and Xiao Zhan has to physically hold her hand to stop her. She does, but some of the coffee splashes on his hand anyways. He pulls back on instinct, but it’s not scalding and he thinks he has avoided any serious burns, although his skin turns pink within seconds. 

The attendant is beside herself; in fact, within seconds, she looks on the verge of a panic attack and he has to once again take her hand in his to tell her that he is okay. It’s just a bit of warm coffee. It’ll be fine. It’s best to not make a big deal out of it. 

“But I have to tell my supervisor, sir.” She says, trying to keep her voice in check, although he can see that she is about to fall apart. 

“No, you definitely don’t. I would not appreciate anyone else knowing.” He says, brooking no further argument. 

She nods hesitantly.

“Will you bring a bottle of cold water please?” Yibo asks now.

She nods again and is gone in a flash.

“I think she is going to go throw up in the bathroom.” He says once she leaves, trying not to rub his hand. 

Yibo takes his hand in his hold and blows on it from a distance, so that his breath is cool by the time it hits his hand.

“Unnecessary.” He says, just as meanly as he intends.

“I know.” Yibo says, looking at him, before he blows on it again.

He tries to pull his hand back, but Yibo keeps it in his hold, “My pretty face practically gave you a second-degree burn.”

“Your pretty face almost cost that girl her job.” He tries once again to pull his hand back.

“Yea that too.” Yibo says with a smirk, refusing to relinquish his hold.

The attendant is back with a bottle of cold water and a glass of ice water. She stands still after she hands them the items, almost as if she is afraid to move.

Xiao Zhan looks at her name tag.

“Ah Qing.” He calls and she looks up at him, startled.

“Do I look like I’m not okay?” he asks, trying to give her his most disarming smile. His hand burns like hell, so this requires some effort, although Yibo is still holding onto it, so at least it’s bearable.

She shakes her head with some effort.

“So I’m okay, right?” he asks again.

She nods.

“And you’re okay?” he asks now.

She starts to nod, then shakes her head, but then stops and nods her head again.

“Stop confusing her.” Yibo says, tugging on his burned arm.

“Fuck Yibo. Are you trying to peel off the skin?” he asks before he can stop himself, although Yibo did not touch anywhere even near the burn itself. 

“Oh sorry, sorry.” Yibo says, blowing on it again, right before he takes the cold bottle and presses against the skin.

That felt better immediately.

He collects his breath before turning back to face Ah Qing. 

She no longer looks paralyzed with fear, but is instead looking between the two of them curiously. 

“What?” he asks.

She looks at Yibo, who is completely absorbed in blowing and rolling the bottle against his hand, before she looks back at him.

He can almost see the wheels turning in her head.

“No…” he starts, but then his reason thankfully comes through and he shuts up, lifting an eyebrow at her instead.

She looks back at him levelly, her previous fear all but gone, a slight smile lighting her face now. 

He tilts his head in question and she pulls her lower lip in to bite down on a smile and then whispers, “You’re so lucky.”

Yea, fuck that.

He doesn’t say it out loud though, but rolls his eyes.

She smiles wider and with one last look at the distracted Yibo, she leaves, no longer in mortal danger of emptying her stomach contents into the bullet’s toilet, her fujoshi heart flying to the seventh heaven at the two beautiful men with the most beautiful smiles, one so smitten and the other so so fucking Tsundere that it gave her butterflies. 

xxxxx


	27. Luoyang to Beijing - Part 2

“Does it hurt still?” Yibo asks and he turns to him, stopping the pretension of reading once again. Because how the fuck is a person supposed to concentrate when Wang Yibo insists on holding onto his hand. 

Yibo’s hold is soft and the bottle is still on top of the burn, although it is no longer all that cold. He doesn’t have the heart to tell Yibo that though. 

“This is the catchphrase of our entire relationship.” He answers.

Yibo looks up from his hand, slightly distracted, his eyes questioning. 

“Did it hurt? Does it hurt?” he says.

“Don’t you hate pain?” Yibo asks with a smile. 

“With a passion.” He answers. 

“Must be why it didn’t work out.” Yibo murmurs. 

His eyes fly up to Yibo’s but Yibo has already turned to face out the window.

He thinks of saying something to make it better, but he must be sadistic when it comes to Yibo because what he says instead is, “Indeed. No one else has made me bleed.”

He sees Yibo’s throat work up and down, but he doesn’t turn back. 

There is a stitch in his chest because Yibo doesn’t respond.

“I haven’t let anyone else…” he whispers.

There is an infinitesimal pause when he sees Yibo’s entire body go still. He stops breathing for a moment. Yibo doesn’t look back though, but he feels Yibo’s fingers slot between his where he had been holding him, squeezing gently. He squeezes back.

Yibo is still looking out the window though, so he folds the book and asks, softly, “You knew I was coming to Luoyang, didn’t you?” 

Yibo doesn’t answer.

“Who told you? My mom or your dad?”

“Your mom wouldn’t do that to you.” He says immediately.

“Why?” he tugs on their joined hands.

Yibo turns back. “She wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

“Ah. And we’ve established that you love to hurt me.” He says, quirking his lips.

Yibo looks up, sees his expression, and tilts his head. “Not as much as you love to hurt me.”

They stare at each other and he remembers all the times when Yibo has bitten him on his shoulder. There is a phantom pain there now, although the last wound from there is long healed, the only thing remaining the hint of a pale white scar left behind. He looks at it often, wishing it to fade no further.

“Your dad then?” he asks when the gaze is veering off into dangerous territory.

“It was inevitable. How was he going to keep it a secret from me?” 

“So, you just show up at his doorstep? Why didn’t you let him know that you were coming?” 

“Why? So he could alert you and you could cancel your trip?” Yibo tilts an eyebrow.

“Why would I do that?” he asks with his own eyebrow action.

“Oh come on, you try not to be in the same country with me, much less in the same room.”

“You give yourself too much credit.” He starts to pull his hand back and this time Yibo lets him. He must have looked startled because Yibo takes his hand back almost immediately. 

“Do I?” Yibo asks now, looking at their joined hands.

He doesn’t answer and instead unfolds his book, once again returning to pretend to read.

“It made me happy though.” Yibo whispers and his ears perks up, even though he doesn’t look away from the book.

Yibo must know that he is listening because he continues, “I don’t even know if dad knows that he is lonely sometimes. He’s been alone for so long that I think he just thinks that’s life. He doesn’t want to move anywhere else. He won’t date. It’s like he has made his peace with living out his days like that. That he won’t make any more expectations out of life.” 

He puts the book down and looks at Yibo.

“It used to drive me crazy. I miss her too, you know. But that doesn’t mean everyone stops living.”

“He lost his wife and his mother, Yibo.” He reminds gently.

“And I lost my mother and grandmother. The only women I had in my life.” Yibo answers a bit heatedly. 

He squeezes Yibo’s hands softly, hoping to soothe.

“Sorry.” Yibo says.

“Why?” he asks.

Yibo looks at him in question.

“What part of how I treat you makes you feel like you ever have to say sorry to me?” he asks.

For a moment Yibo looks at him blankly, and then his expression turns.

“You mean to tell me that all your rudeness is just a form of affection?” Yibo asks.

“Affection is too strong a term.” He answers, smiling.

“Then?”

“We have developed sufficient… familiarity… that we can dispense with all formalities, pleasantries…” 

“Social graces.” Yibo interrupts.

He looks at Yibo. “Fuck social graces. If you say sorry to me again, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” Yibo’s all that curious about this looming threat.

He thinks of that for a moment before he says, starting to pull his hand back, “Thank you for your help, but I think my hand is all better now. I’m sorry for disturbing you for this long. I’m sure you have better things to do. I’ll just see myself to that seat over…” he starts to get up from his seat and Yibo pulls him back and takes his hand again, grinning, “Yes, yes, you’ve made your point.”

He grins as well, squeezing Yibo’s once more, although he adds, “I hate the word _sorry_ from anyone I know well.”

“So I should never apologize if I do something wrong?”

“If you do something wrong enough that you need to apologize, then you better not think I’m going to be satisfied with just a sorry.”

“Ah... I see.” Yibo says now, catching on.

“So you were saying that you’re glad that I like your dad more than you do.” He reminded as a segue back to their earlier conversation.

“Is that what I was saying?” Yibo asks now, his smile turning sweet.

It makes him squeeze Yibo’s hand involuntarily and Yibo looks down at where their fingers interlace each other.

“In so many words, yes.” He says, trying to break the moment. 

“Why do you go to see him?” Yibo asks, looking up, absently rubbing his thumb along the edge of his palm.

He takes a moment to answer that. “Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe in the beginning it was because he seemed like he had sort of lost you, you know. Like when he heard you sing. It seemed like it was the first time he had heard it. And then maybe I felt badly that I was the reason that you had to leave him behind for Korea once more…”

“So you’re trying to replace me… ah…” Yibo says now, although he is smiling.

“I’ve been trying hard. I don’t think he’s buying it. I look nothing like you, first of all.”

“A vast improvement, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t.” he says without missing a beat, making Yibo laugh.

“But I do think he is slowly getting used to me.” He says warmly.

“He is quiet like me.” Yibo says and he nods in answer.

“What do you guys talk about?” 

“Nothing much really. I mean, it’s not like we are sitting around shooting the shit.”

“No, you just bribe him with fruits and electronics.”

“That allows him to see more of his own son.” He says as a reminder.

Yibo goes quiet at that and he turns to see if he had offended him.

Instead, Yibo’s gaze is soft. So soft that he has to look away.

They are quiet for a bit until Yibo finally taps the cover of the book that’s on his lap.

“Read something to me.”

“What?” he asks, turning back.

“Any random part. Anyways you’re not even reading properly.” 

“How do you know?”

“You’ve been on p. 185 for the entire trip.” Even Yibo’s tone holds a smirk when he says it.

Wrong, he is actually way beyond the 300s, if he remembers correctly. He has no recollection of holding the page at 185 or even what was written on 185.

“Well, you’ve been ruining my concentration what with the snoring, the second-degree burn, the smitten attendant… really, you are a walking…”

“Sitting.” Yibo interrupts.

“Sitting” he allows, “Menace.” He finishes.

“So, enlighten me. Read.” Yibo is amused, but not deterred.

“Any part?” he asks.

Yibo nods.

He flips the book open to a random page and reads,

_“Waiting for the perfect love?”_

_“No, even I know better than that. I’m looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortbread. And you stop everything you’re doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortbread out to me. And I say I don’t want it any more and throw it out of the window. That’s what I’m looking for.”_

Yibo laughs. “I like it.” He says.

He laughs as well. He had liked that paragraph too when Midori had said it in the book. More than selfishness, he thought it spoke of some level of trust in the other that they love you without condition, the way a child trusts a parent to not hate you even if you pull the worst kind of bratty shit in the world.

“Read more.” Yibo says.

He flips to the end, because what the hell, the flow of the narrative is all fucked up in his head anyways, and now he wants to know how this ends, even though that’s beside the point really, but it is what it is. And so he reads,

“ _I have a million things to talk to you about. All I want in this world is you._ ” He pauses there, thinking he should flip to another page. This seems a dangerous line of reading. Yibo tugs on his hand though and he continues, “ _I want to see you and talk. I want the two of us to begin everything from the beginning._ ” 

He stops there and a moment later, Yibo asks, “What’s the name of this book again?” 

“Norwegian Wood. Murakami. It’s a pretty well-known novel.” 

“Maybe I should have read more when I had the chance.” Yibo muses.

“When did you have the chance?” he asks.

That gets Yibo to smile at him, although he now says, “Read from another page.”

“Hmm…” he flips through again and reads,

“ _There’s one other thing. Maybe it’s just to do with me, and you may not care about this one way or another, but I’m not sleeping with anybody anymore. It’s because I don’t want to forget the last time…_ ” he stops, unable to continue. He is about to fold the book but Yibo grabs it from him and finds the line to continue reading, “ _It’s because I don’t want to forget the last time you touched me. It meant a lot more to me than you might think. I think about it all of the time_.”

He is breathing hard by the time Yibo finishes reading, Yibo’s voice changing the tenor of Watanabe’s voice entirely, whispering new secrets into the words. 

He looks away from Yibo and thus is more aware of where their hands touch, each point where skin meets skin, and he thinks it would have been easier to look at Yibo than to… _feel_ …

xxxxxxxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta share this video of XZ - a bts from Untamed, although I don't think one that is widely seen (maybe I'm wrong). But boy is a feisty one (like my XZ here), although he keeps it well under wraps in general in front of cameras and fans, although that Yibo boy knows... he KNOWS)
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CDQ9Us2gtlH/?igshid=c2f9v2q7bzac


	28. Luoyang to Beijing - Part 3

Yibo is quiet for a long while afterwards, although their hands remain joined where they are. And now that words and gaze are absent, he can feel Yibo’s warmth. 

“I haven’t.” he hears the whisper and for a moment he thinks that Yibo has spoken, but then he sees Yibo look his way and he realizes that it was he who had spoken.

Yibo’s eyes widen in shock and then his own eyes widen too at what his short-circuited brain had just admitted.

“What?” Yibo asks, his hand tightening involuntarily.

“What?” he asks back, for a moment only able to mimic.

Yibo lets go of his hand to reopen the book and then his fingers are running down the page to find the passage that he had read before. And he starts to read it again.

“ _Maybe it’s just to do with me, and you may not care about this one way or another…”_ he slaps his hands over Yibo’s mouth to get him to stop reading, but Yibo just pulls it off and holds onto it now as he continues, _“…but I’m not sleeping with anybody anymore. It’s because I don’t want to forget the last time you touched me. It meant a lot more to me than you might think. I think about it all of the time_.”

“Which part?” Yibo asks.

“I don’t know what you mean.” He turns away and Yibo grabs his chin to bring it back to him.

“You just said you haven’t. To which part? That you haven’t slept with anybody else? That you haven’t forgotten that last time I touched you? Or the last part?” here Yibo pauses, and his voice gets quieter, “Or that, you haven’t thought about it at all?”

“The last one.” He says quickly. Too quickly. 

Yibo tilts his head, watching him. 

“Yibo…” he calls. There’s an entreaty in his voice to not press. To not ask anymore.

He sees Yibo’s throat work up and down, that knot there he had loved running his lips over now seeming almost untouchable to him.

Yibo notices the way his gaze has slipped and returned, and in the next moment he whispers, “You’re always going to love me like _this_ , aren’t you?”

His eyes close at Yibo’s question, because he thinks maybe Yibo can read all the naked answers in their limpid depths. A moment later though, he feels the heat of Yibo’s palm by his cheek and he leans into it without thinking.

“Every time I think I’m alone in this…” Yibo pauses and he focuses on the warmth of those fingers against his face as he waits for him to continue, “you always do something that makes me _feel_ you all over again. And the more you fight it, the worse you get.” One finger strays softly to brush over the mole below his lips and he stops breathing.

“I don’t…” he says, because, that after all is his default where Yibo is concerned.

He hears Yibo’s soft laugh and then that voice is husky when he leans closer to counter with, “You think as long as we don’t sleep together, you’re in no danger. But I think because we don’t sleep together, you just keep on falling harder and harder.”

“I don’t.” he says, grabbing onto Yibo’s wrist with the intention of pulling it off.

“You’ve traveled on this train four times in the last five months, four and a half hours each way, just to spend an hour or two with my father. Just because you think he might be lonely.”

Yibo pulls his wrist out of Xiao Zhan’s hold and twists it so that he is back to being the one who is holding. He then kisses the tip of Xiao Zhan’s thumb before folding that finger down.

“Wen Xu.” He says simply as if that explained that whole issue before he kisses Xiao Zhan’s index finger and folds it down.

“When your father ordered me to enroll in University, you told me that it was my choice. You and I know very well that if push came to shove and I told you no, it would have been an uphill battle for you to convince your father to get me out of it.” He kisses the middle finger and folds that one too.

“It really wouldn’t have been.” Xiao Zhan feels obligated to point out.

“Oh yes it would have been…. Especially because we know half of what you have done since your father called us for that first dinner is to make sure that I didn’t stand out as anything worthy of his notice. And certainly not as someone whom his son would go to make waves over.” Yibo must have taken the dinner as a separate matter altogether because it now gets the ring finger kissed and folded.

His eyes are still closed and he waits against his will but with bated breath to hear what the last one is going to be… because he knows that one more waited in this kissing game, if nothing else other than to complete the set.

Maybe something about his mother…

Yibo drags this one out, so much so that he starts to wonder if there is even a fifth one. He is just about to open his eyes when he feels Yibo’s breath by his ear. 

A spark of electricity catches on the nerve there and fires it way all across his limbs and down his spine. 

“And despite what you think of yourself, you are the most loyal thing I’ve ever met in my life. There is no way you’re still dating Haikuan if you let me do all this to you…”

His eyes snap open at that, just in time to catch Yibo’s lips press against the pad of his pinky finger before that too gets folded down.

For a moment, he stares at Yibo and Yibo stares back, with all his fingers with Yibo’s lip imprint on them now folded into a fist in Yibo’s hold. 

When he thinks he may throw all caution to wind and kiss Yibo, he pulls his hand back and says, “You’re playing with fire.”

“So you’re always saying.” Yibo mutters in frustration, the first sign of how strained he has become over the last two hours, “Just burn me up then.”

He looks over to see Yibo retreat back to his seat, exasperation evident now in every line of his face.

“What? Should I haul your over to the cramped bathroom so that you can fuck me there? Because you think I’m no longer dating Haikuan?”

“Fuck you.” Yibo says, turning to look out the window.

“Wasn't Jackson trying to get in your pants anyways?”

“Yea, maybe I should just let him fuck me.” Yibo doesn’t turn back, but there’s bitterness in his voice now.

“ _Let him fuck you_? Since when did you flip?”

“Fuck you.” Yibo says again, but now he gets up to walk down the aisle, in the direction of the bathroom.

He knows he has taken leave of his senses when he waits just ten seconds to follow Yibo.

The door is locked when he gets there, but when he knocks, it opens like Yibo had known he would follow.

They are in each other arms as soon as the door closes, hands and mouths devouring each other even though the space is so limited there is barely any room to move around.

There is a string of expletives, hoarse and hard, that fall from Yibo’s mouth as Xiao Zhan’s lips soften over his neck, even as his hands climb up under Yibo’s shirt to press into his back muscles, feeling like he can’t get close enough.

“Kiss me harder.” Yibo pleads, pushing his neck against his lips in the hopes that it would open.

Xiao Zhan pulls back instead to catch his breath. 

“I can’t leave any marks on you.” 

“I don’t care.”

“You will once you get back to Korea and then have to explain to the others how a weekend trip back home gave you hickeys.”

“Fuck, I can’t take it. Honestly. I feel like my skin is going to catch on fire.” Yibo says, desperately. 

He feels that every time he is around Yibo.

He doesn’t know if he is driving the desperation up or down when he turns Yibo around to sink his teeth into the back of his neck, his mouth taking over with a gentle sucking motion while his hand under Yibo’s shirt plays over a hard nipple and the other hand drops down over his loose joggers to palm his erection. 

He has to turn Yibo’s mouth to his to swallow the sound of his moan. His hand slips inside the joggers and boxer briefs to pull on Yibo’s hard cock and then his own dick is so hard that he can hardly concentrate. Yibo’s moans get too loud to contain in a kiss and he has to pull his hand away from his nipple to give him a finger to suck on as his other hands pumps his cock up and down. 

“Fuck baby, you have to be quieter.” He whispers in Yibo’s ears, wishing he could take him away somewhere else where he can scream out his pleasure to his heart’s content.

Yibo’s too gone to hear it though, so he just has to make sure that his finger remains in Yibo’s hot mouth, as his lips suck on it with such focus that he can feel its firm pull on his dick.

“You’re going to give me wet dreams for months…” he practically moans into Yibo’s ears, feeling his dick twitch with how hard it is. 

Yibo’s eyes open and he lets go of the finger in his mouth for moment to turn sideways to look at him. “I can’t even touch myself without thinking of you… it’s been hell thinking that I can’t control jerking off to imagining about someone else’s boyfriend.”

He doesn’t have an answer to that, so he just focuses on making Yibo feel good, pulling long and firm on his dick until Yibo is writhing with the build-up.

He feels Yibo’s ass grinding against his dick as Yibo’s hands reach behind to pull him closer.

He brushes kisses all over Yibo’s nape and down the column of his neck while Yibo brings his finger back into his mouth to suck. 

And before long, Yibo is coming, long stripes of it aimed so accurately that there is really no need for cleanup. If he wasn’t so consumed with lust, he would have made fun of yet another one of Yibo's talents. 

Yibo falls against him afterwards and Xiao Zhan leans against the sink at his back, exhaling forcefully, his breaths hitting Yibo’s hairline, rustling the mini brown strands there. 

Without thinking, his clean hand wraps around Yibo’s waist and pulls him back fully against him so that they are pressed together from shoulders down to thighs, his legs spread around Yibo’s. 

Yibo sinks back into it, his body boneless, and Xiao Zhan buries his face into the slope of his neck, breathing him in deeply. 

Yibo’s hand reaches up to tug lightly at his hair. 

He is still hard and Yibo must feel it now more fully because his other hand sneaks behind his back between them. “Let me take care of you.” 

He pulls Yibo’s hand off and shakes his head into his neck.

“We’ve been in here too long already.”

“But…” Yibo starts.

“Coming is not really important.” He cuts him off. 

Yibo turns his head to the side where Xiao Zhan’s face is still pressed close. 

He senses the question in that turn and says truthfully, “I just wanted to hold you. Smell you. Kiss you.” 

Yibo’s fingers card through his hair then, tenderly, and Xiao Zhan has never felt so full in his heart. Especially while his dick is still so frustratingly full too. 


	29. Luoyang to Beijing - Part 4

He intends to only wait a minute before returning to the seat after Yibo had already done so, but instead he stays longer, standing back against the locked door and deciding to finish the job that he had not allowed Yibo to do. He wants it to be just a quick and hard release so that he won’t be tempted to think with his dick anymore during the rest of this trip, but when he closes his eyes, he sees Yibo’s full lips wrapped around his finger and pulling on it so sensually, that he has to work hard to keep from moaning as his dick hardens like iron. When he finally spills out, his head and senses filled to bursting with Yibo’s smell and taste and pleasure-filled face, he has to bite down on the fleshy-part of his palm to not growl like an animal. 

When he opens his eyes from how they had been scrunched up tight, there are dots and prickles that blind his vision before it clears. He cleans up and washes his hands and dries them in a napkin for a full minute before he looks in the mirror. His lower lip is bruised, he can see, his eyes are still blown out, and his hair is mussed where Yibo had brushed his fingers through them before. He stares at himself for a long time, for the first time seeing what Yibo might see when he looks at him. Then he loses interest in that when instead of seeing his own reflection, the mirror starts to look more and more like Yibo. He blinks and the superimposed image disappears and then it’s just him. He can see it already. There is a sort of vulnerability in his eyes. It no longer mattered whether he admitted it or not, when Yibo looks at him, he sees this. And this gaze told Yibo that no matter what his mouth said, his eyes are the only thing worth trusting. 

_You’re always going to love me like_ this _, aren’t you?_

He blinks again and now when he opens his eyes, the weakness there is gone. 

He leaves the bathroom and starts to walk back to his seat, but gets stopped by Ah Qing, who passes him a cup of hot water with a wedge of lemon. 

“I think his throat is still bothering him.” 

He takes the water from her, his eyes warming without meaning to, although he now asks, “Do you know who he is?” 

She shakes her head. 

He had figured.

“Do you like him?” he asks.

She looks surprised for a moment, blushing, and shakes her head.

He smiles. “When you find out who he is, don’t tell anyone that…”

Her eyes widen. “Is he famous?” she asks.

“Yea, somewhat. But he will be a lot more famous soon. And then, when you truly become his fan…”

“I will keep it a secret that he is yours?” she asks, cutting him off, her eyes twinkling.

 _You’re always going to love me like_ this _, aren’t you?_

In secret. That’s what Yibo had meant. 

“Will you?” he asks with a smile.

She nods eagerly. 

He takes the cup from her now, but asks, “You don’t think I’m too mean to him?”

She laughs now, and he notices that she is actually quite pretty when she laughs. 

And she tells him like she is sharing a secret. “He likes it.”

One of his eyebrows rises at that. “How can you tell?” 

She shrugs. “He is sort of glowing from the inside out, even with the sore throat and all. That means, he must like it, no?” she asks.

“You’re weird, you know that?” He says, although he is smiling. 

She nods, smiling. “I know.” 

“Don’t spill hot coffee on anyone else because you were too busy staring at hot boys, ok?” 

She shakes her head, giggling.

Yibo is surprised to see him carrying the hot water when he returns. 

He takes it and waits until he sits down before leaning over to whisper, “Where were you? I was about to send a search party.”

He looks over and snorts. “Just because I didn’t want _you_ to take care of business, doesn’t mean that business did not need to be taken care of.”

For a moment, there is pause and then Yibo looks over, “Don’t tell me…”

“I won’t.”

“You? Jerking off in a public bathroom?”

“Love has nothing to recommend it as far as sex is concerned.” He says blithely as he pulls out his phone to check the text that just beeped through.

Before he can look at the phone though, Yibo is spitting out the sip of water that he had just taken and coughing.

“What? Too hot? Wrong pipe?” he asks, slapping Yibo’s back.

Yibo stops coughing and looks over. Ah Qing was right. Yibo is glowing, his skin flushed pink and gold in the sunlight filtering in through the window. Although a coughing fit will do that too.

“Did you just admit that you love me?” Yibo asks, leaning forward, eyes wide and lips puckered in mock confusion. 

“I believe what I said was that love led to bad sex.” He was truly a sourpuss when it came to Yibo.

“Fuck that. Even when we didn’t have love, we had great sex. You’re just mad that you didn’t get to come.”

“Oh, I came. Alone.”

“By choice.” Yibo looks amused. 

“You hardly looked like you had strength to lift a finger, much less jerk someone off.”

“I can fix that right now.” Yibo says, reaching under his food tray to slip a hand over his crotch.

He pretends to be bored as he lifts Yibo’s hand off to return it to his lap. “Too late.”

Yibo smiles, his eyes glowing even more now.

_He likes it._

“Our fujoshi attendant thinks you’re a sucker for my brand of asshole charm.”

This just makes Yibo smile wider. And that smile is so infectious that it makes him smile too.

Yibo’s smile vanishes then, although his eyes get softer and he leans in to say, “Your brand has to be asshole to balance out this smile.”

He purses his lips because he wants to smile wider. And that wouldn’t do. 

He leans in too then to say, “At least I make some effort to balance it out. What about you? Just going around giving your smile out like free candy to all the fucking Jacksons in the world.” 

“Are you jealous?” 

“Of Jackson? Hell no.”

“Well, I was jealous of Haikuan.” Yibo admits candidly and there is hint of a wistful smile on his face.

“Were you?” he asks, his smile gone.

Yibo looks over and nods. “So much. He is so nice that it made me ever crazier, but I just had to admit at some point that there was no way I could win over him.”

If he only knew…

Instead, what he says is, “He _is_ a sweetheart.”

He is a sweetheart who had fallen in love at almost first sight with Wen Xu’s fiancé, Jin Su’s older brother, Jin Guangyao at their engagement ceremony a month ago. 

Xiao Zhan didn’t think Haikuan was even aware of it himself, but as well as they knew each other, he knew all the signs. He _should_ know… he thinks, as he looks at Yibo now.

“Well, good thing you like bad boys.” Yibo says. 

He bursts out laughing at that. “Who misled you into thinking you were a bad boy?”

Yibo looks properly offended now. “I am the _definition_ of a bad boy.”

That definitely produces more laughing. “Vocabulary must not be your thing then. You don’t even meet a single criterion of being a bad boy.”

While Yibo sputters at this, Xiao Zhan adds, “You are a pretty boy who is into bad boys.”

This time, it is Yibo who snorts and then laughs. “You think _you_ are a bad boy?”

“The real kind, not the fake bullshit kind that only appeals to teenyboppers.”

Yibo scoffs at this distinction. “What’s the real kind?” 

“The kind who doesn’t brag about shit that should not be bragged about.” 

“Ahh.” Yibo says after a moment. “The shit you have to do to cover up for Wen Xu doesn’t make you a bad boy.”

“It does.” It’s a statement, offered definitively.

“Do you regret it then?” Yibo asks.

He is quiet now. He wonders how to answer. And then he answers it honestly.

“I don’t lead the kind of life that allows for regrets, Yibo.”

“What if one day you do?” 

“I don’t think I’m genetically predisposed to regrets.” He answers. “And I don’t mean that facetiously.” 

“Why? Because of your father and brother?” Yibo asks.

“I’m the same blood. I wouldn’t have too many grand expectations of me.” He says and by Yibo’s look, he thinks Yibo understands what he means.

“You think you won’t be able to feel for me like I feel for you.” Yibo says. 

Xiao Zhan thinks about that for a moment before he answers, “When something is novel and exciting and there is youth and beauty and lust, you think you will feel that way forever. But the novel will get old, excitement will dull, youth will age, beauty will fade, and lust will dim.”

Yibo lays his head back against his seat before he says, “You don’t really think you feel any less than I do. You just don’t really trust that what you or I feel is anything long-lasting.”

He looks at Yibo and Yibo looks back at him. “I may be a bit jaded for you.” He finds that being honest with Yibo is more bittersweet than he expected.

Yibo holds his gaze for a long while. And then asks, “Should I love you until you’re old and gray, Zhan ge? When your pretty eyes are clouded over with cataracts and those long sexy fishnet legs need a cane to get around, and I can’t get it up anymore without Viagra and you no longer want any ass action anyways because no amount of lube in the world is going to make it feel good and I have a Despicable Me paunch with wiry legs and arms so that I look like I may tip over face front any moment, and you have gone full bald and we think you should definitely try that hair regrowth oil we saw on the home shopping channel…”

He is laughing now and Yibo stops, his lips wide with a huge grin. For the life of him, he can’t stop laughing. He laughs until there are tears leaking out of the corner of his eyes and when he stops, Yibo is just watching him, that grin still on his face, although there is so much fondness there now that his heart pinches with an ache unlike any he had known before. And for the first time, he thinks that if what people called soulmates and all really did exist, he wishes Yibo is his.

xxxxxxxxxx


	30. Beijing International

Part 30

They reach Beijing at 6:35. Yibo’s flight is at 9:30. It’s an international flight, so he has enough time to get to the airport to go through security and get to the terminal before boarding time. Given the amount of time they already had on the train together, there’s hardly any reason to linger. He doesn’t linger, but does take a cab to the airport with Yibo, sending him off with just a squeeze to his hand. Once Yibo has disappeared from view and the cab starts to move, he abruptly stops it, pays the driver and gets off. 

What he is about to do next requires him to just do it and not think about it because if he thinks about it, he will have to acknowledge just how insane and stupid he is being. It serves its purpose though and gets him into the airport and into the business class lounge that has sleeping rooms, one of which he claims. Then it’s a matter of texting Yibo his exact location. Fortunately, there are not that many people in the business class lounge and he has chosen a sleeping room that offers the most discretion as far as location is concerned. He waits about 15 minutes before he gets a text from Yibo that he is outside and he opens the door for him. By now, it’s almost 8 pm. Yibo’s boarding time is in about an hour, give or take. 

“How did you get in here?” Yibo asks once he comes in and closes the door behind him.

“I booked a ticket.” He answers, sitting back on the bed. 

“To where?” 

“What does it matter? I just needed to get in here.” 

“And how much did you spend to get in here?” Yibo is still standing, although now he starts to pull off the Nike bag from around his shoulder. 

Xiao Zhan tilts his head at this and when Yibo pauses in his motions to look at him, Xiao Zhan’s lips quirk up at an angle as he pretends to do the calculation in his head, “About 18,567 RMB for 45 minutes. You’re quite expensive… even I didn’t charge that much at the DayToy Room." 

The bag is still in Yibo’s hand, hanging off awkwardly, as Yibo stares at him. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” He says, moving up on the bed. “I wouldn’t do something I couldn’t afford.”

Yibo drops the bag, kicks off his shoes, and climbs onto the bed with him.

“Why?” he asks after a moment.

“Fuck, I don’t know.” He answers, picking up the tv remote and turning it on. He doesn’t know why there is a tv in a sleeping room that you rented by the hour, but he is appreciative of the attached shower. Not that he plans on doing anything that requires a shower. 

Yibo turns to look at him, grabbing the remote from his hands when it’s on some home shopping channel. 

He looks at Yibo and holds his gaze. 

“Did you set an alarm?” he whispers after a moment as he pulls Yibo onto his lap. 

He feels Yibo nod as his arms go around Yibo’s waist to bring him close, pressing his nose into Yibo’s collar bone, inhaling deeply. 

Yibo sighs blissfully as his arms wrap around Xiao Zhan’s neck and one hand pulls on his bun to loosen it.

“It’s gotten longer…” Yibo murmurs, combing through its unbound length softly. Xiao Zhan presses unhurried kisses all over Yibo’s neck, although occasionally like an addict, he can’t help but pause to breathe in Yibo’s scent. Which swirls its magic all through his senses, creeping into his nerves, reminding him how fucking long he’s been deprived. 

“That left a scar.” Yibo says, and Xiao Zhan opens his eyes to see that Yibo is rubbing at the faded bite mark on his shoulder. 

When Yibo lifts his eyes, Xiao Zhan sees the possessiveness in them.

He feels an answering tightening in his own belly and whispers, “You’ve bitten me there so many times.”

“I didn’t know it would leave a permanent mark.” His voice is husky. 

“Let’s hope it’s permanent.” Xiao Zhan says absently, looking at the mark now, at its hazy jagged edges. 

When he looks back, there is so much want in Yibo’s eyes that he jerks his hips instinctively. 

“I can always bite you again…” Yibo says, rocking into his hardness before pushing him down onto the pillow, slotting their fingers together on either side of his head.

“Let’s not leave DNA evidence with my blood all over the linens of the Beijing International Airport.”

“Hey hey…” Yibo says, pulling back up, now properly straddling him. “You led me to believe that was a dream.” His eyes become smoky though, as if sorting through that memory, “An alcohol and lust-induced fantasy.”

He watches Yibo, the way his lips have parted now, that tongue pushing against the upper lip absently, and his dick answers with a twitch, making Yibo look down.

“You only got that drunk because…” he starts and peters off, willing Yibo to remember and not forgive him for past hurts. 

Yibo pauses and a moment later, he moves off to lie down on the bed next to him.

“Why did you do that?” Yibo asks, staring at the ceiling. 

“To hurt you.” He answers, looking at the ceiling as well.

Yibo is quiet at first, but then says, “Tell me the truth.”

“My dad suspected that you may have something to do with Wen Xu being… displaced.” 

“Did he?” Yibo asks.

Xiao Zhan looks over to the side. “I thought you were quite convinced already that I had Wen Xu removed because of you.”

Yibo looks at him then. “It’s one thing for me to guess and another for you to admit it.”

“Ah, you just want to hear me say it.”

“I want to hear you say it.” Yibo affirms, not smiling.

He doesn’t know if Yibo truly wants to hear what he has to say. It didn’t matter though. He deserves the truth. Might as well peel off one more layer before he fell in any deeper. 

“I wanted to kill him. But given that that wasn’t a viable option, displacement seemed the next best.”

Yibo’s eyes widen in shock and after a moment, he sits up. Xiao Zhan raises himself up and moves back against the pillow once more. He had removed his blazer before, but his shirt is still on, although Yibo had managed to get a few buttons open. He wonders whether he should just button them back up. There was honesty, the romantic kind, and there was honesty, the kind that he had just offered. This has no comfortable sugar-coating. 

Yibo knows him well enough to know that he didn’t say such things merely from emotion, because Yibo asks now, quite seriously, “Have you? Ever killed someone?” 

“No.” he answers.

“Whew.” Yibo sags against the pillow, crowding in next to him.

“Don’t ever kill anyone, okay?” Yibo begs now, earnestly, turning his way.

He watches him for a moment before he smiles. It doesn’t seem to escape Yibo that he doesn’t say no.

“Fuck, I’ve truly sold my soul to the devil.” Yibo says, watching his smile.

“You still have time to back off.” He tells him, keeping his smile in place.

“From what? You? Hmm… you should’ve thought of that before you paid 18,567 RMB to spend 45 minutes with me in a sleeping pod.”

“Oh, that’s all it takes to seduce you?” he asks, arching an eyebrow and turning to his side.

“I’m way cheaper than that.” Yibo whispers, dragging him in by his open collar.

“Yea, how much?” he asks, burying his lips against Yibo’s neck, moving his lips to find the telltale flutter of his pulse. 

“Just three words.” He hears, the voice soft.

He lifts his head and looks at Yibo and sees that his cheeks and neck are all flushed now, as if he is cringing at his own request now that Xiao Zhan has put a spotlight on it by looking at him.

“ _I’ll kill for you_ wasn’t enough?” 

“Don’t even fucking joke about that.” Yibo says, his smile disappearing.

“Okay, fine.” He acquiesces, grinning.

“No seriously. I don’t need you to play a knight in shining armor.”

“Oh, I don’t think anyone will ever accuse me of that.”

“Or be a renegade bad boy fighting my battles for me.” Yibo adds and now Xiao Zhan bends his head until their foreheads touch. “Fine.” He says after a moment.

Yibo’s fingers climb around his neck once more and pulls him back to look into his eyes. “I love you.” He says now, his expression open and unguarded. 

Xiao Zhan’s eyes soften at that and he kisses Yibo gently before murmuring next to his lips, “Didn’t you want me to say it first?” 

“Why? Didn’t I love you first?” Yibo asks. 

“How do you know?” he asks.

“I just do.” Yibo says with superior smile.

“Hmm… I’m not going to say it then.” 

“So petty.” Yibo says, pushing at him with one hand, although the other is still around his waist, so it doesn’t really accomplish much. 

“What if I never say it?” he asks, bringing Yibo’s arms on either side of his face, pressing them into the pillow.

Yibo doesn’t answer right away and he realizes after a moment when Yibo’s hips shift that it’s because he’s hard. 

He lifts up Yibo’s legs so that they are bent at the knee on either side of him and watches Yibo’s eyes close at the friction. He moves slowly up and down, watching Yibo bite down on his lips to cut off his throaty little noises.

“You know, I miss how dirty your mouth gets when we fuck.” He says, which gets Yibo’s blissed out eyes to open. 

“It’s been too fucking long I won’t even last for five seconds if you keep this up.” Yibo gets it all out in a rush.

“I jerked you off literally this afternoon.” He counters, his throat tightening at how good even the rubbing over clothes feels.

Yibo grabs him around the waist and holds him still for a moment. Then he flips them over in the next moment, so that he is now on top. 

“That’s not the same as coming inside you.” Yibo says hoarsely now in his ear and he clenches his eyes tight as he feels it. The words. He is so hard now, the zipper of his jeans is digging into his cock.

“Don’t start shit when we don’t even have lube.” Yibo says a moment later.

“You didn’t bring lube?” he asks, his eyes flipping open.

“Why the fuck would I bring lube all the fucking way from Korea?” Yibo asks, although he is simultaneously unzipping Xiao Zhan’s jeans as he is saying it.

“Didn’t you come here to fuck me?” Xiao Zhan asks, then gasps when he feels Yibo’s warm hand pulls out his dick into the open.

“I wasn’t even sure you wouldn’t turn tail and run when you saw me, much less stay around to get fucked!” Yibo has pulled his own joggers down now, enough to get his dick out too.

 _Fuck_. His mouth waters. He squeezes his eyes closed. He fucking loves Yibo’s cock. It literally is the best fucking cock in the entire Universe, bar none.

The home shopping channel is droning on in the background, now trying to sell a vegetable spiralizer for five easy payments of… he tries to focus on the woman’s voice so that he won’t shoot his load right away. Just from seeing Yibo hold his enormous…

“Fuuuuuuck.” Xiao Zhan breathes, his lips trembling when Yibo presses their dicks together.

“Should I cum-fuck you from behind?” Yibo asks, bending over to bite on his earlobe. 

He would smile if he wasn’t so fucked in the head with lust. He has finally unleashed the beast. Yibo did love saying some filthy shit when they fucked. It made him go crazy.

Yibo’s large hand is wrapped around both of their cocks now, rubbing in earnest and Xiao Zhan bites into his own wrist, feeling the crest of the pleasure building. 

“Because I missed fucking your pert ass, Zhan ge. I love spreading those plump cheeks open and seeing how many of my fingers you can take before you…”

“Oh fuck… stop talking…” he whispers, panting, and at the last minute, Yibo pulls down the sleeve of his shirt to bite into his shoulder as they both spill onto Xiao Zhan’s belly at the same time. 

They lie there panting for a good few minutes before Xiao Zhan finally has the energy to lift his head. 

Yibo steps into the attached shower and comes back with a ball of rolled up toilet tissue and wipes him clean, smirking the whole time, before returning to the shower. 

The water runs for a few minutes and Yibo comes out, wet and naked. 

Against all natural laws of the human anatomy and physiology, Xiao Zhan feels his dick stir again. He would have to be dead to be unmoved by the sight of Yibo’s wet naked body.

He knows Yibo has to leave in fifteen though, so he makes himself get up to walk in the shower to rinse off too, although he puts his hair up in a bun before he does so. It’s too long to dry quickly like Yibo’s. 

When he comes back out, Yibo is back in his joggers, shrugging on the t-shirt over his head. 

“Most expensive non-lay ever.” He murmurs with a grin and Yibo swats at him growling, “Your dick didn’t complain.”

“Ah, but my ass did.”

Yibo falls back on the bed, although he is smiling now and Xiao Zhan crawls in after him, climbing onto his body. Yibo’s arms wrap around him in eagerness, running over the naked skin of his back and lower still as he whispers, “Fuck, I truly did miss this bum.” 

That earns him a kiss below the ear and a murmured, “When you come for the wedding, fucking bring lube.” 

Yibo’s eyes snap open. 

“Are we invited?” he asks.

“Of course. Your manager should have the invitation.” Xiao Zhan sits up to pull on his underwear and pants. 

“When is it?” 

“In a month.” 

“That soon?” Yibo asks, eyes wide. 

He nods.

“The engagement was literally a month ago.” Yibo says as if he needs the reminder.

He gives Yibo a look. 

Yibo sits up, eyes wide once more at the insinuation. 

Xiao Zhan nods. “Guess who’s going to be an uncle soon.”

“Oh fuck.” 

“I know. I can’t imagine that I’ll be any good at it. Although with Wen Xu for a father, someone has to step up.”

“Oh please, you’ll be great at it. I’m talking about your shirt.” Yibo looks at the shirt that Xiao Zhan is holding in his hand, about to put back on.

Xiao Zhan follows his gaze and finds that the sleeve of the shirt is hanging off the rest of the shirt, partially torn off.

“Fuck Yibo.” 

Yibo is quiet and when he looks up, there is a huge grin on that face as he watches Xiao Zhan try to put the shirt back on with the torn piece flopping off, exposing most of his shoulder and upper arm.

“Hey, at least you’re not bleeding.” Yibo says, quite pleased with his accomplishments.

He thanks the Universe for the blazer and shrugs it on, decency intact enough to make it back out of the airport. 

When he looks up after he is done, Yibo is watching him carefully once more.

“What?” he asks.

“You said before that you hurt me that night because your dad suspected that I had something to do with you replacing Wen Xu.”

It takes him back, this abrupt change in topic. 

He gets up from the bed, picking up the remote to turn the tv off.

By now, he knows Yibo well. Knows how quickly that brain will connect the dots now that it’s not waylaid by lust.

“Did you put on an act to convince your dad that you weren’t in to me?” Yibo asks.

He doesn’t answer, but flips the channels through until he finds the weather channel. 

“Stormy skies here, but not until well after your flight takes off. You’re in the clear.” He says.

“Did you actually even date Haikuan?” Yibo asks now and Xiao Zhan flips to the channel showing the flight information.

He looks at his watch. Yibo’s boarding time started in ten minutes. He will need to run to make it to his gate on time.

“No.” he says, turning the tv off. “You’ll have to run to make it to the gate.”

“All this fucking time, you were just pretending to date Haikuan?” Yibo asks, his gaze heating up.

“It’s my prerogative who I date or pretend to date.” And just like that, he is back to douche territory. Must be his default with Yibo.

“Are you going to continue to exercise this prerogative?” Yibo asks, getting off where he had been kneeling on the bed.

“What exactly are you upset about? Me actually dating Haikuan or me pretending to date Haikuan?”

“You lied all this time.” Yibo says simply.

“I lie all the time, Yibo.” He answers.

Yibo exhales sharply at this. 

“All the fucking time.” He says once again, as if for emphasis.

Yibo breathes in for a moment before he turns around to swing his bag back over his shoulder. 

“Will you continue to pretend to date Haikuan?” he asks, his hand on the doorknob. 

“Yes.” He answers. At least until Haikuan figures out that he is in love with someone else and calls off their arrangement.

“Today doesn’t matter at all to you?” Yibo asks, his voice soft, although he doesn’t turn around.

He knows all he needs to do is hug Yibo and tell him why this is necessary. Hell, he doesn’t even have to explain. Yibo already knows. But right now, all the words will be wrong. 

“You know we can’t have an actual relationship. Sex doesn’t really change anything.” He says. Love doesn’t either. But he doesn’t say that. 

He sees Yibo’s throat work up and down and thinks Yibo is about to say something. A moment later though, Yibo opens the door and leaves. 

He lies back on the bed that still holds Yibo’s smell and wonders how long before it dissipates completely. 

xxxxxxxxx


	31. Letting Go

For some reason, he knows intuitively that that evening in the hotel changes things.

Yibo doesn’t text him when he lands, but he stays awake until he sees on his phone that Yibo’s flight has landed. Even then, he doesn’t fall sleep. Not really.

UNIQ Life’s next upload comes within the next two weeks and Yibo is there with the rest of them, no longer openly morose like he had seemed on his birthday. Now he laughs along with his brothers and shows that this is like the good ol’ days. They have their mojo back. If his smile doesn’t really reach his eyes, well, Xiao Zhan is willing to consider that there is a requisite mourning period for these things. 

He can tell though. Yibo is in the process of letting this go. And the difference is, unlike any of the other times before, this time Yibo seems like he really _wants_ to let it go. 

No matter how he truly feels about it deep down, it still doesn’t trump the relief he feels. 

He had never expected that there was this way to care about another person. This sort of feeling where once you dug through everything else, the very bottom of it was simply how much you loved and not really how much you were loved back. 

He had always wanted more love in return that he could give back. It was more than most people could give. But from those who could, he wanted it. 

He didn’t want it from Yibo. Although if anyone could give back more than given, it was Yibo. And Yibo’s love was too precious to waste that way. 

He was proven right a month later at the wedding. 

There were many idol groups at the wedding, not just those managed by Wen Entertainment, but others too, just given the family business. And thus, along with UNIQ, GOT7 was there too, with Jackson at the forefront in all his gregarious, confident, amusing, endearing glory. And so very clearly adoring of Yibo. A bit of rivalry was there on the surface, because after all, same age group, comparable in looks and talent, etc. etc. but underneath they both seemed genuine in a way that he didn’t see often. And for all his jealousy before, if he could have picked anyone for Yibo, it would have been Jackson. 

The weekend is a blur with the sheer number of people coming in from all over. There are continuous trips to airports, hotels, and various venues that he manages only with the help of MianMian and Wen Ning. He is required to be in a hundred places at once so it’s not often that he spends any significant amount of time with any of the guests. And so, he does not see Yibo all that often. When he does in passing here and there, Yibo is polite and courteous, smiling at all the appropriate times. 

Not unexpectedly, many of the idol groups are together during almost the entire weekend. UNIQ and most of GOT7 seem particularly close. And more than once when he sees them from across the room, Jackson is making Yibo laugh that truly real laugh of his. It tugs at his chest in the beginning, seeing that laugh. But then it makes him smile. Because regardless of what he had said to Yibo before, he likes it whenever he sees that laugh, no matter who Yibo gifts it to. 

Wen Xu is in a mood. Having Yibo close by those two days gives Xiao Zhan the energy to get through the mood. It’s clear that as much as Wen Xu is eating up the wedding – hell, any event thrown in his honor is good times for him – the marriage is an inconvenience. But even Wen Xu knows that he has no way out of it now. Especially because the bride is pregnant. Not to mention, the bride is not a nobody. If Wen Xu even dreams of crying off, their father would likely cut him off for good and decide to cut his losses. And that’s the other strange thing. He would have thought that their father would be furious about the pregnancy, but for some reason, despite any outward show that he felt this way, Xiao Zhan can sense that Ruohan is pleased. He knows that Ruohan wants heirs eventually. His father also knows that that prospect is only likely to happen through Wen Xu. But the fact that the bride getting married in this fashion would be not only be alright with him, but welcomed by him, that is… unexpected.

For his part, Xiao Zhan tries to keep his head above the fray. The only reprieve he gets that weekend happens a few hours before most of the boys are scheduled to leave for the airport. There is a late afternoon garden party of sorts that his mother arranged, a large enough affair for the group of 30 or so guests who are leaving for their flights that evening. But casual enough to ease the edge off the wedding the day before. Fruits, crudité and cheese plates are set up with wine and non-alcoholic alternatives, all arranged with the sole purpose of slowing down the pace before the festivities wrap to a close. 

He arrives a half hour into it, having gone to the airport to get Wen Qing who had arrived a solid 24 hours _after_ the wedding. Flight delays, she claimed, although he believes no such thing; Wen Qing is not the biggest fan of Wen Xu, but their families are distantly related, her brother works for him, and their mothers are great friends. Not to mention, Wen Qing had been one of his closest friends growing up, the first one he actually disclosed to that he liked boys instead of girls when he was 12 or so, albeit in a matter-of-fact sort of way. And she had replied in a similar matter-of-fact way that, yea, she had kinda guessed already.

Once he shows her to her room, he arrives at the garden where the fete is now in full swing and there are groups clustered here and there, the biggest one being at the table with UNIQ and GOT7. He pauses at the sliding door to just watch, for a moment transported back to another afternoon from what seemed like eons ago when the boys had come over for dinner the first time. The night that he had gotten the scar on his shoulder. 

He doesn’t know how long he lingers there on that precipice, but comes back to life when he feels fingers digging into his back and turns around to find Wen Qing, now showered and changed into a sundress. 

“My circadian rhythm is in Hades right now. If I fall asleep into some Manchego, kindly wipe it off before you arrange for me to return to my room.” She says and he smiles as he pulls her up front by her hand. 

“My mom missed you. Go say hi.”

“I fully intend to.” She smiles. But doesn’t move. 

He looks at her curiously. She is still smiling and looking out at the crowd in the garden when she asks, “Where’s Wen Xu and the bride?”

He scans the groups scattered around the garden but does not find them. “They were here not that long ago. Must have gone back to their room. You will meet them at dinner though, don’t worry. When are you going back anyways?” 

They had been too busy catching up during the car ride back from the airport on all five years that Wen Qing had been away doing her residency in the US that he had forgotten to ask how long she actually planned to stay for this visit. He couldn’t imagine that it was long. She had just started her new post after completing her residency not that long ago. She could not have accrued that much vacation to stay too long.

She doesn’t answer for a long moment and then waves to his mother who has seen her from the other end of garden. She is about to walk over, but Wen Qing gestures that she will go there instead.

Just before she starts to walk away, she turns to him. “I’m not going back.”

“What?” he asks in surprise.

She nods and walks away, although for a moment she turns around to walk backwards as she says, “Missed you too much, it turns out, my little sociopath.”

“Bullshit.” He answers, although he smiles. 

She nods as she says, this time seriously, “I’m not going back Xiao Zhan.” 

That is curious. He will have to dig into it more later.

While Wen Qing chats with his mother, he walks over to the different tables to greet the guests, thank them for coming, etc. etc. He leaves Yibo’s table for the end and by then, there isn’t much time left before they have to leave. They are already packed, it’s just a matter of waiting for the cabs to take them back to the airport. 

All the chairs around the table are occupied and Xiao Zhan fully intends on standing, but Seungyoun insists on getting up to give him the chair while he walks around the table to its opposite end to sit on Yibo’s lap. 

“Damn Seungyoun, you’re not a lightweight.” Yibo yelps as he tries to balance his weight. This is not the first time they’ve had to accommodate in this fashion, evidently, because even though he complains, he pulls Seungyoun in to make him more comfortable. 

He watches that gesture that Yibo makes, that way he has of subconsciously adjusting his entire person to fit in another, and suddenly feels the whole weekend crash into him. Rather than push it away as he had been doing, he allows it to go through him now, this tidal wave of longing. It’s so fucking strong once he lets it in that it’s all he can do to not physically feel it pulse through him, little ripples of it sending aftershocks through his fingers and toes even after it dissipates. He holds still, focusing on the conversation and laughter around him to ground him and not give himself away. He doesn’t think anyone noticed, until he sees the eyes that are partially hidden behind Seungyoun’s animated body and gesticulating limbs, watching him. For a moment, their eyes lock, the first time that entire weekend. He doesn’t know how long it lasts, but there is a cough from far away that breaks through his consciousness even when all the talk of the boys around him doesn’t. And he looks away. It is enough. He hopes it’s enough to last a whole lifetime if needed.

When Yibo leaves with the rest of them for the airport a half hour later, he doesn’t go with his mother to send them off. He does watch from the tearoom window though. He watches as they say bye to his mother and as they all walk down the driveway to their cabs. Yibo doesn’t look back. Not even once.

He is glad. 

Letting go is easier when you are also let go of. 

xxxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear regulars (and newbies), Just editing this to say how much I truly adore reading your interactions with each other. Sometimes my fingers really itch to reply (and sometimes I do), but I like it even more when it's all of you talking to each other :). - Devi


	32. Wen Qing

It’s only because of the camera that he has installed in the west wing tearoom - to record his father and his appetites for certain maids - that he catches them. Not live-feed, of course, but after the fact. 

He isn’t even sure what he is looking at at first as they are only partially in range of the camera, but then there is a tussle between them that brings them fully into the camera’s line of vision. Initially, he only sees Wen Qing’s back, still in that sundress. And then she is pulling back someone attempting to walk away from her and then… it looks like they are kissing and that is when the long auburn hair that does not belong to Wen Qing swings into view, just partly. The long auburn hair of his pregnant sister-in-law. 

For some reason, the immediate feeling that he gets is relief. Somehow his limited trust in humanity is less shaky now as he watches how Jin Su stills at the first contact. Then she is melting into the kiss… and then sobbing into the kiss. Wen Qing is not crying, but her arms go around Jin Su, holding her now and kissing her temple and cheeks and the inside of her palm. 

He turns off the feed and closes his eyes. Watching any longer seems like an intrusion. At least his father has no cameras inside the mansion, he remembers with a sigh of relief. 

He would rather not intrude on whatever it is that is happening between them, or rather, whatever evidently has already happened between them, but he knows he has to talk to Wen Qing. People in love were notoriously stupid, no matter how brilliant they were otherwise. Unwittingly, they could lead the people they love into the slaughter shop, having no idea of their own blind spots. At least if she knew that he was here, that he knew, that he would take care of Jin Su, then hopefully she wouldn’t do stupid shit like this ever again. At least right under Wen Xu’s and Wen Ruohan’s noses. But then again, Wen Qing has always been a little badass. It made it all the more sobering that even she couldn’t hold onto the one she loved. What is the point of rushing over here now, regrets, tears, and all, after the girl got married off, pregnant to boot, to the likes of Wen Xu. Too little too late. 

When he sees them the day after at breakfast, Wen Qing is all that is cool, calm, and collected. Pretending to meet Jin Su for the first time. Jin Su for her part manages to nod and smile beatifically, although halfway through breakfast, she cries off to her room complaining of morning sickness. Wen Xu is annoyed at the disruption. His father shoots him a look. But then looks at Wen Qing and says, “Aren’t you an ob/gyn?” 

Wen Qing nods. 

“Oh good, she is yours.” He says with a sigh of relief.

Xiao Zhan almost spits out his coffee, but catches himself at the last moment.

Wen Qing is not as successful and does appear to have inhaled or consumed something through the wrong apparatus, because there is a violent coughing fit, and his mother reaches over to pat her every which way murmuring, “there there, dear” until she calms down.

His father waits until the fit has quieted down before he says, “Madame Jin tells me that the pregnancy has been rough on Jin Su. Would you mind, and I will remunerate you generously, moving in here until the delivery? Maybe even for a bit after?”

The fact that his father thinks nothing of this request, of asking an ob/gyn to simply move into his home to take care of his pregnant daughter-in-law for some nine or ten months is itself a testament to how used he has gotten to getting what he wants.

Xiao Zhan schools his features so that it now only shows the appropriate level of expressions. The correct ones. Because a lack of expression is also troublesome. He widens his eyes slightly, shrugs and then asks, “Is that absolutely necessary? Wen Qing just returned from the US after five years. She would likely want the time to catch up with her family, look at job prospects, etc. etc.”

His little interjection is also to remind Wen Qing to not jump at the chance to move in here. That would also be suspicious. 

“I think it’s a great idea. She’s already vomited twice today. And kept on twisting and turning most of the night. How long is this supposed to last anyways?” Wen Xu asks with his characteristic dumbassery.

Xiao Zhan grabs onto Wen Qing’s hand under the table and squeezes hard before she can respond. Because he can sense it, she is going to blow up. 

She startles in surprise, but before she can react further, his mother speaks up, hopefully covering up both of their reactions. “I threw up all nine months with you. Violently sick. The. Whole. Time.”

This time his eyes widen truly. It’s not often nowadays that his mother acknowledges Wen Xu, much less speaks to him directly beyond ‘pass the salt’. She is glaring and Wen Xu is glaring back. It is the most real emotion that Xiao Zhan has seen in Wen Xu in a long time.

“I’m sure you are going to tell me that you ate and slept like an angel and sprouted unicorn wings when you were pregnant with this one.” Wen Xu turns in his direction and glares. He glares back. Because there is nothing Wen Xu hates more than being dismissed. Or pacified. Especially about anything related to their mother. He really needs to see that Xiao Zhan is fully invested in participating in this rivalry for their mother’s attention. Anything less made him even worse. 

“I think she also saw the Jade Emperor in her dreams.” He answers and cocks an eyebrow.

There is a chuckle at that and they all turn in the direction of his father, surprised. Wen Ruohan looks amused by the whole exchange as if he is not witnessing the central conflict in the life of his two children and their mother.

“So what do you say, Wen Qing? I’ll talk to your mother. Let her know that you’ll be staying here for some time. Let me know which hospital you would like to work at and I’ll put in a call. Let me know anything else you need.”

Well, hell. The old man must really want a grandchild.

“Wouldn’t you rather have someone more experienced?” Wen Qing asks.

 _Good girl. She was learning._ Xiao Zhan squeezes her hand now in encouragement. 

“Family is better.” His father answers. “Besides, you’re a smart girl. I trust you.”

_As if._

“Can I think about it?” she asks.

Ruohan pauses and looks at her. And then reluctantly nods as if indeed, that makes sense.

xxxxx

He finds Wen Qing her in her room later than night, locking the door behind him once she lets him in.

She has had enough time evidently to think about the happenings of the morning because once they sit down, she asks without preface, “Do you know something?”

“What do I know?” he asks.

She looks back at him, holding his gaze, before she asks again, “ _Do you know_?”

He nods.

“How?” she asks. “I literally came back yesterday. I haven’t even done anything.”

He lifts an eyebrow.

“Oh my God, is this fucking place bugged?” She asks, looking up and around.

“Not bugged, per se, but there is a camera in the west-end tea room. Just video feed though. There’s no audio feed.” He admits. Only his mother knows. 

“Fuck, what kind of house do you live in? And who is watching the feed?” 

“Just me.” 

“ _You_ put in the camera.” She asks.

He nods.

She is quiet for a while, considering that. “That’s a huge violation of privacy, Xiao Zhan.”

“Whose? The house staff? My mother tells all of them when they’re hired that it’s possible that there are baby cams here are there. They’re aware even if they don’t exactly know where it is.” 

“You didn’t tell me.” She says. 

“Well, I didn’t think you were going to sneak around the first night, trying to make out with my sister-in-law!”

She flushes at that. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“It’s not? Maybe I can try? You fell in love with her when she was doing her MBA in the US. But then you let her go, because after all, she is the second heir to the Jin Group. You don’t really see them accepting that their daughter is bisexual.”

“She is not.” Wen Qing interrupts.

He gives her a look without wanting to state the obvious. Then he does anyways, “She is pregnant, Wen Qing.” 

“She did that just to spite me.” 

His mouth falls open. “She slept with Wen Xu just to spite you?” 

Wen Qing sighs. “I may have been a bit of a bitch to her when we broke up.”

He raises an eyebrow.

She sighs and falls back against the couch, rubbing her hands over her eyes as she mumbles, “You don’t understand, Xiao Zhan. She is like this beautiful, pure, sexy, gorgeous, amazing…”

“I get it.” He says, smiling.

She smiles too, a tiny smile, even though she is bright red now. “I fell so hard that I didn’t know how to deal. And I was convinced that she was just, you know, _new_ to everything. She was a virgin. Never even dated anyone before. I was her first kiss, first… everything… You can see how I wasn’t sure that she was really… you know…”

“Into girls?” he asks when she peters off.

She nods. “I thought I just seduced her so hard that she was confused for some time.”

“So what did you do?” 

“Well, once she was done with her MBA and about to come back, I broke up with her. Told her that she should date more. Maybe date men. Have sex with men. See if she liked it.”

“Ohh Wen Qing.” He says in exasperation.

“I know, I know. But she was fucking with my head. I loved everything about her. Her warmth, her smell, how quickly her eyes flashed in anger and pain if she felt like I wasn’t paying enough attention to her.” She clutches onto her head now, lowering her eyes. “She was definitely my brand of cocaine.”

He absently rubs his shoulder.

“But you know, it was so strong that I was convinced that it would burn out quickly. Besides, she is so beautiful and sweet and smart, who wouldn’t like her? And she loves to be loved. I wasn’t all that sure at that time that she really needed it to be me.”

“You thought any loving would do?” he asks.

“No, not any loving. But I thought with the right man, she could really have a wonderful life. You know her brother is gay. She is likely Madame’s Jin’s only hope for grandchildren. I don’t know, it just seemed like a lot. Like I was sort of stealing her away from her best life just because I got there first.” She is quiet after that.

“What changed your mind?” he asks, feeling a kinship with her that was new and unlike the old. 

“Well, for one thing, instead of finding the best man out there, she finds the worst.” She looks up, her gaze heated and her fingers angrily combing through her hair.

“Did you ask her why?” he asks gently.

“She says she doesn’t care who it is. If she is destined to marry only to appease her family, then what does it matter. Wen Xu was really into her in the beginning and she just gave in. She also wanted to know if I was right. If she would like sleeping with a man.”

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I can’t imagine that being considerate in bed is Wen Xu’s thing.”

She looks at him ruefully. “I think she hates it.”

“What? Sleeping with him?” he asks.

She nods. “She says she has lost interest in it. And given how sick she has been with the pregnancy, I think he’s lost interest in her.”

He is quiet, watching her. 

After a moment, her eyes sweep down, although he can see the wetness on her lashes. “She is so sensual. I can make her come from just…” she pauses as if she had not meant to say that. But then looks up. Whatever is in his expression makes her say, “…touching her. Every part of her body is so incredibly sensitive…”

“Maybe just to you.” He says. She looks torn about that. And then sighs and lays her cheek against the couch.

“You think he’ll hurt her?” she asks. 

He wants to answer. But he doesn’t. She doesn’t deserve false assurances. What he says instead is, “We’ll both be here.”

She nods.

“So, it’s settled then? You’re moving in?” he asks.

“You’ll have to drag me out when it’s time.” She answers, smiling.

“Why don’t you just run away with her?” he asks. 

She looks up, laughing, until she realizes that he is not.

“Wait, you’re serious?” 

He shrugs.

“And what? Abscond with the baby? That’s going to the heir to both the Wen Group and the Jin Group. Where will we go? They’ll likely find us anywhere we go.” 

“You’ll have to leave the baby.” 

She laughs. “What sort of monster do you think I am that I would make a woman part with her baby?”

He sighs and sits back. “I’ll take good care of her. Or him.”

She tilts her head, watching him now. 

He is so tired all of a sudden that it takes him a while to notice it.

When he looks at her and lifts his head in question, she asks, “What happened to you?”

“What do you mean?” he asks. 

“Offering to raise someone else’s child in the same breath that you’re encouraging me to run away for love. Really? What happened to you?” 

He puts his head all the way back on his armchair and closes his eyes. He thinks he could sleep, sitting like this. 

And when he sits like this with his eyes closed, he often hears in his ears, _Should I love you until you’re old and gray, Zhan ge?_

“Why don’t we get married then?” he asks, fatigue a living breathing thing inside him. “That way you’ll never have to be apart from her.”

xxxxxxxxxx


	33. Band Aid

It’s spring again. Jin Su is due soon and for some reason it’s been filling him with anxiety. Even though Jin Su is glowing. Everyone thinks it’s the pregnancy. And maybe it is. But it doesn’t hurt that she no longer sleeps in the same room with Wen Xu, but in the same room with Wen Qing. The official reason is that she wakes up so many times in the night to use the bathroom or just because it’s uncomfortable to sleep that it’s better to move to another room so that both she and Wen Xu can sleep properly. 

His father is the one who suggests that she move into Wen Qing’s room so that someone can be there if she needs help. That had been almost at the end of the second trimester. By then, Jin Su had started to look pale. Even after her morning sickness stopped, she had continued to lose weight. His father was home more often than before, and whenever he was, he watched Jin Su like a hawk, taking in the only slight protrusion of her stomach and her thinning flesh elsewhere with a sort of focus that made him take it out on Wen Xu. Xiao Zhan could have told him that that was the wrong way to handle Wen Xu. Making Wen Xu feel responsible for Jin Su’s evident depression was only going to make him worse. And he did, get worse. Until Jin Su finally asked for another room to move to so that Wen Xu could sleep better and not be bothered by her waking up. Ruohan had immediately volunteered Wen Qing’s room, with Wen Qing in it. Wen Qing had gotten used enough to his father by then that she knew not to react to this news with anything other than mild surprise. 

To say that Jin Su started to recover within a week of moving was be an understatement. Within two weeks, she started gaining rather than losing weight. And within a month, by the time she was officially in the third trimester, she was finally looking like a _pregnant_ woman rather than simply a weary one.

xxxxx

His mother is biting into an apple slice one morning watching Wen Qing and Jin Su in the backyard, making another round of the garden during their morning walk, when she says absently, “Maybe I should have found a woman too…”

He looks over, putting another peeled slice in front of her. “What do you mean?” he asks.

She huffs out a little laugh before she turns her eyes on him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I supposed to pretend I don’t know?” 

He raises an eyebrow, but focuses on peeling the next slice.

“I have plenty of girlfriends. Very close ones too. Hell, Wen Qing’s mother is one of them. None of them have ever looked at me the way they look at each other.”

“Maybe you’re just so man-crazy that you’ve never noticed.” He remarks.

That makes her laugh. “I am definitely not man-crazy. Maybe a bit sex-crazed, but when you get to my age, you’ll find that you would hold onto anything, and certainly something tangible, to fill up all those parts of you that are just emptying out.”

He passes her another slice, but doesn’t look at her.

“I know you know, A’Zhan.” She says and he finally raises his gaze.

“At least the girl’s healthier now. I honestly thought she would miscarry there for a while. How you can carry twins and lose weight is beyond me.”

He had worried the same. There was only so much he and his mother could do to make Jin Su feel comfortable. She was away from her family in this enormous cold house with his brother for a husband. 

When you thought your soul was just withering away, there was only one kind of remedy. They were just lucky that that remedy happened to be living in their home at the moment.

“What if I married her, mom?” he asks, peeling the last of the slices.

“Married who?” his mother asks, the slice of apple paused by her mouth.

“Wen Qing.” He says, keeping his eyes on the knife.

“Wen Qing? Why the fuck would you do that?” his mother curses, but not with him. That should be telling enough about how the rest of this conversation is about to go.

He doesn’t answer. 

“If this is some misguided bullshit to keep them together, I’ll seriously throw her out of the house right now.” She is angry and he looks up, his eyes wide.

“How can you even say that?” he asks. “She is taking care of Jin Su.”

“I don’t care. I’ll take care of Jin Su, if need be. No one has perished from not being with the one they love. Hell, look at you. You don’t even allow yourself to see him, and you survive. Every day.”

He doesn’t even think of denying it anymore. What was the point. The woman had carried him for 9 months and figured out that he was gay from the moment he slid out of her womb. And contrary to what Wen Xu believed, his mother’s delivery with him had been much rougher than the one with Wen Xu. 

“That’s an old story now, mom. It never really had a chance anyways. And either way, it’s not like I ever got to live with him or anything. They’ve been together all this time. How is Jin Su going to react when Wen Qing has to leave? It’s not like Wen Qing can live here forever.”

“She can live here forever if she wants. I have no problem with that. But, as your distant relative, not as your wife. That’s the other thing! You’re related, you fool. With the same last name. What are we, still in the middle ages?”

“I have looked it up. Marrying third or fourth cousins is actually the best-case scenario.”

“For whom? For what? I assume whatever you looked up is talking about procreation. That would require copulation, which you are certainly not inclined to do in this life ever again if not with one particular idol currently touring Japan.”

“What kind of craziness are you spouting? You think I’m going to be a monk for life just because of some past fondness?”

“Past? Ha!” she literally guffaws. “You’re telling me you offering to marry a woman - a woman! - is not basically admitting that you plan on being celibate for life.”

“Me and celibacy don’t even belong in the same sentence.” 

“Oh really? When was the last time you had sex?” she asks, one eyebrow cocked to the hairline.

“That’s personal.” He evades.

“Bullshit. You haven’t slept with anyone since Yibo.”

“When have I had the time?” 

“Oh, is that the excuse that you’re using now? You haven’t had time.”

Xiao Zhan closes his eyes and shakes his head. “You both have some really strange notions about my loyalty.”

“Who both?” she asks. “You mean Yibo? He knows this about you too? Argh. Finally someone who fucking gets you! I never thought it would happen in this lifetime.”

“Mom, I’m speaking honestly right now. Your ideas about… some aspects… of my personality and character are just plain wrong.” He says now in contradiction to his thoughts before. But he knows it needs to be acknowledged. “You like to think that you got a devil and an angel for children. When neither is the case. Wen Xu is definitely tipped in the wrong direction, but the one remaining part of him that’s any good is that he still wants your approval.”

“It’s just a competition to him to win over you.”

“Maybe. Maybe a big portion of it is. But it’s also because you have made it that way. I think you’re the only one in the world he has any genuine feelings for, truly.”

She turns away then. And is quiet. And he can sense it. The only subject in her life to which she has no answers. And for which she is willing to just bear the guilt and blame that she may feel to her grave. She can’t even talk to him about it. To some degree, he appreciates that. That some part of her still values that her feelings about her older son are too personal to share with the younger one. That somehow it’s breaking some sort of confidence to do so. That means that some part of Wen Xu is also not beyond the reaches of her love. The sort of love that exists beyond everything. The unconditional kind. The kind that just sucks you dry and wrings you out until are drained. Such was the love that children required. One of the reasons why he didn’t want any.

“And I’m hardly the angel that you think I am.”

“Why? Because you did your bit at the Daytoy Room? Because you cover up for your brother? Which parts should I hold against you?”

He nicks his finger with the knife and then drops it suddenly, bringing his finger to his mouth to suck on it. It gives him a few moments to breathe and to replay what he just heard.

“How do you know about the Daytoy Room? Does dad know?”

“I have my sources. You’re my son. I need to know enough about you to protect you.” She pauses. “As for whether dad knows, that’s anyone’s guess. Although if I can find out, why can’t he?”

“Fuck.” He says, closing his eyes. 

“Why? Are you bothered that he knows about your sex life?” 

He snorts and opens his eyes. “I could care two shits what he thinks about my sex life. It’s not like anyone in this house has any sort of typical sexual preferences or proclivities.”

“Then?” she asks, pulling his finger to her now and holding it under the tap, running the water.

“That’s how I met Yibo.” He admits, sighing. 

“It is?” she asks, surprised. And he’s thankful that at least that much, she didn’t know. 

“Although, what does it matter your father knows how you met Yibo.”

“You don’t think he suspects…?” he peters off. It feels dangerous to even say it out loud.

“So what if he suspects? Fuck what your father thinks.” She has certainly changed how she thinks about this situation now. Which has him worried. 

He sighs again and pulls his finger back, and she shuts the tap off. 

It starts bleeding again almost immediately.

He sucks on it again as his eyes stray outside. Wen Qing and Jin Su are on their way back from the last round of their walk. Jin Su is starting to look tired, although she is smiling. 

“Have you asked her or talked to her about it?” his mother asks, she too watching the girls now.

He doesn’t answer.

“And what was her answer?”

He doesn’t answer.

“If that selfish bitch takes you upon your offer of marriage, I swear to God…” she starts and he pulls on her arm in surprise. He doesn’t remember the last time he has seen her this angry.

“She didn’t. She just laughed it off.” Not entirely the truth. Even though the first time he had brought it up way back when, she had laughed it off, the most recent time, she had just been quiet. She was torn, he could tell. Being allowed this much time together had only brought them closer together. He could only imagine how difficult the prospect of leaving Jin Su again would be for her. If someone was giving her a solution, a realistic one, why wouldn’t she consider it? Hell, if the situation was reversed, he would have married her in a heartbeat if he thought there was even an iota of possibility…

He blinks and squeezes his mother’s hand. “Mom…” he starts.

“I want you to marry who you love, A’Zhan. Not be someone’s beard. Fuck what anyone else thinks. Fuck what your father thinks. If you think your father is going to use Yibo against you, then isn’t it better to keep him close to you than far away? Wouldn’t it be better if you could see him every day?”

“Mom, have you lost your mind? He is an up and coming idol. That’s going to be a great career decision to announce to the world and half the girls who worship you that you are gay and madly in love with your dude boss.”

She is quiet, watching him.

He tilts his head, raises an eyebrow. “You understand?”

“Is that what he is?”

“What is he?” he asks, confused for a moment, his eyes drifting outside to see how far away the girls are from the door.

“Madly in love with you?”

He turns back to face her slowly. 

She looks like she can see inside him and for a moment, he allows himself to feel it, what he never lets himself feel. 

As if waiting just for this permission, rivulets of pain start to trickle down. 

And he asks, “Do you still talk to him?”

She nods.

“Isn’t he dating Jackson?” he asks, despite himself.

She nods. 

He swallows and nods again. The rivulet is a stream now and then a river, making a pulpy mess of his chest.

He wants to flip the switch back. And not feel again.

He is relieved when the girls finally open the door to come in, saving him from saying anything more. 

“Get a band-aid.” his mom says, and he looks down to see that the blood is now pooling into his palm.

xxxxx


	34. Bring Them Back

He helps Mr. Wang carry the two bowls of soup out to the porch. It’s on a tray, which allows him to carry both bowls while Mr. Wang follows, murmuring about whether the lotus root will be to Xiao Zhan’s liking. 

“This is the fifth time I’m eating one of your soups. And I’ve never been disappointed.” He says as he waits for Mr. Wang to take his seat before passing him one of the bowls. 

He takes the first sip and gets used to the taste. It’s… quite good. Then he takes a bite of the lotus root, the thing that is novel to him in this dish. He pauses to figure out what it tastes like… maybe like a slightly sweeter potato. He takes another bite, this time with the pork. They go together really well and he looks up, his eyes alight with appreciation. 

Mr. Wang’s face brightens and he smiles. “I like that you wait to really see if you like it before you tell me. You won’t just lie to make me feel good.” 

His smile dims at that statement, although Mr. Wang is looking down at his bowl of soup now and doesn’t see it.

“Well, then it’s good that I’ve liked everything that you’ve made thus far. I wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings.” He says, taking another bite.

“You wouldn’t hurt my feelings. I’m not a great chef, but I do enjoy cooking. When my wife was alive, I used to experiment more. She was my best critic.” Mr. Wang’s eyes are off to the gate, to the winding road outside. “I think maybe in her own way, she prepared me to live on when she was gone.” 

Xiao Zhan looks down at his bowl, his eyes suddenly filling. He doesn’t even know why. He blinks it back before Mr. Wang notices.

“At least I won’t go hungry, eh?” Mr. Wang asks, chuckling. 

Xiao Zhan looks up and smiles. “Was she a good cook?” he asks.

“Oh God, no. She was a terrible cook. Just like my son. All vinegar in everything. I used to tease her that drinking that much vinegar was really only meant figuratively and not literally.”

He laughs. “Was she the jealous type?”

“Hmm… yea. A bit of it was for show though, because she knew I liked it.” Mr. Wang’s smile crinkles the corners of his eyes now, as if he could remember all too clearly.

“Yibo is jealous too, although he’s too proud to admit it. My wife had no such issue. She told me from the beginning that if I wanted to marry her, I had to know that that means I was all hers. No one else’s. And to marry her only if that was ok.” 

He focuses on eating, although he remembers Yibo admitting readily that he had been jealous when he had seen him with his mother for the first time, and then again when Yibo asked whether he should be jealous when he saw him and Mr. Wang. And then a pair of eyes flashing in hurt when he had found him in that hallway with Haikuan. And then again on that train, when he had admitted, so readily, that he had been crazy jealous of Haikuan. 

“I’ve been a bit of a loner all my life, you know. Not so good with words. Or really in expressing myself. It was like she sometimes gave me her words. Or her feelings. And took care to make sure that I always knew I belonged.” He smiles again.

He feels that. All the way inside his chest. And thinks he’ll make a mess of his eyes again.

He takes another bite, focusing on the taste. This could be what home tastes like. 

“So Yibo is a quiet loner like you who drinks vinegar, literally and figuratively, like his mother.” He remarks after a moment, grinning back.

“Hmm…” Mr. Wang nods, his smile widening. 

They eat in silence for a bit after, enjoying the light breeze in the air. The weather is not too hot yet and there is a promise of a late afternoon drizzle hanging in the air.

“How is your sister-in-law?”

“She is in good spirits.” He says. “On bedrest though. Her blood pressure is a bit higher than they would like. Even though the due date is a few weeks away, they think they may have to induce her sooner.”

“Hmm…” Mr. Wang nods.

The afternoon passes like that, the conversation ebbing and flowing naturally, the drizzle starting before they are done eating, turning Mr. Wang’s quirky garden animated, lush leaves dripping water in careful pauses and long streams as if a neighbor come to murmur gossip and secrets. 

He leaves close to four and reaches home at nine. His mother and father are home. He senses the tension in the room as soon as he walks in. Except it’s their collective tension and not with each other. His mother’s tell is her hold on her bracelet and his father’s, his hold around his whiskey glass. 

“What’s wrong?” he asks. 

“Were you in Luoyang again?” his father asks.

He nods. They have had this conversation before when his father had been home once several months ago on a Sunday when he had returned from Luoyang.

“What do you do there anyways?” his father asks again.

“I have someone there I like.” He answers honestly. He sees his mother’s smile behind his father, although a moment later, the worry is back in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asks again.

“Jin Su has gone into labor.” It’s his mother who answers.

“What? When?” 

“She started having contractions in the afternoon, but they were so spaced out that Wen Qing said that that was not unusual. But then they started getting more frequent and a couple of hours ago, we drove her to the hospital. Wen Qing said that there was no sense in us waiting there, that they were going to be there for a while, so we came home. Besides, just when we were returning, Jin Su’s parents were getting there, so it was likely to be a crowded anyways.” His mother says.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“And what? Were you going to literally fly back from Luoyang? Sanren said that you would back by the night anyways. And why are we calling you when we can’t even get Wen Xu on the phone.” There is clear annoyance in his father’s voice.

“Where is he?” 

His mother shrugs. His father sits back on the couch and clutches his drink again. “Wherever he is, someone will bring him home soon.”

Well, that didn’t sound good. That’s the kind of shit his father did when he was pissed. And it generally did not bode well for whoever was at the receiving end.

No one really slept in the house for hours. It was an especially strange experience to see his father sitting in the den, nursing his second glass of whiskey watching some mindless variety show on television. He occasionally took phone calls, but otherwise stayed there. 

When midnight came and went and Ruohan was still in the den with the tv on, he sent his mother off to bed and walked into the den.

“I’ll be awake, dad. I’ll come get you and mom if the hospital calls. Either way, this might be awhile.”

His father looks up and nods. When he turns around to walk out, his father says, “You sit.”

He turns back, surprised, but then nods and sits on the couch adjacent to his father, looking at what is on tv that has his father’s attention.

He doesn’t know why he didn’t notice it before when he had come by the den, but his father isn’t watching variety shows on tv. These are recorded episodes of UNIQ appearing on various shows, mainly in Korea. The boys are speaking in Korean. His father is minimally conversational in Korean if not fluent. 

He tries to have no reaction as he watches the large screen, even when one of the hosts focuses on Yibo during a portion, making some remark about how good-looking he is. Yibo, in classic Yibo fashion smiles his trademark shy smile. Even though UNIQ has an entirely new album out now, doing pretty well too, EOEO is still popular and still a draw during the interviews, especially the dance routine with the… he gives a silent prayer that the interviewer wouldn’t… oh but she does, and then there are the boys, one by one, lifting their shirts to show off their six-packs. 

He sits there silently, keeping his eyes glued on the television, telling himself to act natural. How the hell is one to act natural with this? This would be weird under normal circumstances, much less whatever purpose this is serving for his father to make him watch it. 

“He’s doing well in school.” His father remarks once the interview shifts to less skin-show portions.

He could pretend he doesn’t know what his father is talking about, but he doesn’t want to insult his father’s intelligence that way. Not to mention, such prevarication on his part would only make this worse.

“Yes.” He says, nodding.

“Better than I thought he would.” His father adds.

He doesn’t respond. What is there to say anyway. 

“Wen Xu did a good job signing them.” His father speaks again.“Yes, he did.” That he could answer.

“I’m surprised you sent them off to Korea when all the other idol groups under Wen Entertainment are being promoted in China.”

He wonders if he could realistically blame that on his mother. He can’t. His father wouldn’t buy it.

He shrugs. “They were trained there. And much more popular there. It made sense to promote them there.”

“Hasn’t it been almost two years though?” his father asks.

He nods.

Now the interviewer is asking the Chinese members about their families and being away from them. Yixuan and Wenhan speak first and Yibo goes last. 

“I’m from Luoyang.” Yibo starts and Xiao Zhan tries not to exhale forcefully and give himself away. His father must already know that, but given their earlier conversation, this seems particularly conspicuous.

“It’s just me and my dad. And he’s the only one home now. So yea, I wish I could get back home more. But we talk often. Video calls. He has his own friends and neighbors there and is quite comfortable, but… still. I have a friend who goes to visit him from time to time. I think he likes that. He likes to cook for him. Show off all the soups that Luoyang is famous for, you know. I get a little jealous sometimes, because he cooks the same thing for me every time I go home. But for my friend, it’s all new dishes all the time. He plans for a whole week, picking out the dish, the recipe, going to the market to get all fresh ingredients. It’s a whole production.” He smiles, lost a bit in reverie. And then collects himself and says, “Hmm… Yes. So yea, Luoyang. That’s home.” Now wrapping up, Yibo gives the mike back.

Xiao Zhan fights the urge to scrub his face with his fingers. 

His father takes another sip of his whiskey, but otherwise has no response. 

His phone beeps then and he grabs it with relief. “I’ll take this outside.”

Just before he leaves the room though, his father’s voice stops him, “A’Zhan, bring them back.”

“Who?” he asks, although he has a freaking good idea. 

“The boys. It wouldn’t do to keep them away from their families for so long, you know.”

Fucking A.

xxxxxxx


	35. Upside Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright my dears,  
> Some warnings: There's a lot happening in this chapter.  
> There is a trigger warning for blood, although it is within a medical context and not gratuitous. But in some sense, that's likely scarier. Either way, you've been warned.  
> Again, fair warning, there's a lot here to get through. - Devi
> 
> And thank you to all my regulars for all your support and kind words and wait. I'm humbled. You're truly my muses. Well, you and these boys. hehe.

The twins arrive into the world with such force that the turbulence is cataclysmic. It turns everything upside down for a short while and when he emerges out of the rubble, the world looks different. 

The decision is made to induce Jin Su almost a day after being admitted and another 24 hours later, she is in active labor. The twins arrive another seven hours later, a healthy baby boy and girl, the girl ahead of the boy by a few ounces and a few minutes. 

He thinks that the urge to multiply must be one of the central human drives if even his father is beholden to it, openly smiling when the news comes while they are all in the hospital waiting room - both sets of grandparents, Jin Su’s brother and him. 

Wen Xu has not yet been located. No one talks about it. 

Wen Qing is the one who comes to deliver the news. She is clearly delighted, but tired. Both babies and mother are doing well, she says. She didn’t assist with the delivery, but it’s clear that she has hardly slept. 

The grandparents and Jin Guangyao are making goo-goo eyes at the pink and blue bundled babies through the large glass window of the nursery and he decides that he can see his niece and nephew a bit later. He walks into the room with Jin Su and Wen Qing. Jin Su hasn’t eaten since she was induced, which is quite a lot of time by now and they are waiting for the nurse to bring her some food. She is smiling, but fatigued, and Wen Qing tells him that Jin Su has hardly slept since being admitted. Jin Su waves it off, although her eyes has taken on that glassy look caused by sleep and food deprivation. 

Once the food arrives and they set up the tray for her, she waits while Wen Qing unwraps the utensils. It’s early in the morning and the television in the room is set to some comedy show. Jin Su is staring at the screen and he thinks she is not paying attention, but then she laughs and he smiles at the sound. 

He is distracted like that until he sees the red out of the corner of his eye. When he looks down, he sees it staining and spreading through the white sheet from under Jin Su. Somehow, he keeps it together enough to walk around the bed and then squeezes Wen Qing’s hand. When she turns to him, he looks down and then she sees it, under the tray that the food has just been placed on, Jin Su’s hospital gown is starting to stain red. He swallows hard as she looks at him. 

He takes Jin Su’s hand in his as Wen Qing says that she needs to use the restroom and leaves. He tells Jin Su that the babies both look just like her, which is fortunate as the Jin family’s looks have much more to recommend it than the Wens. Her smile is still in place, but her wrist in his hold starts to flag and his heart is beating a million miles a minute as he bends down to whisper in her ear, “Jin Su, you have to stay awake. Your babies are waiting.”

He can feel her pulse flutter and he tries to slow down his breathing so that he doesn’t panic even more. He needs to focus on her. 

Wen Qing returns with the nurse and by then Jin Su’s pallor is sheet white and there is a frightening amount of blood seeping through the linens and her gown. 

The nurse puts out a page and within a short amount of time the attending doctor comes in. She sees the amount of blood already lost and within minutes, Jin Su is wheeled out. 

“What is it? What’s happening?” he asks once they are alone, grabbing onto Wen Qing’s hand. 

She seems too choked up to speak for a moment, but then exhales and inhales and says, “I can’t say for sure yet, but I think her cervix is ruptured.”

“What does that mean?” he asks.

For a moment, her face crumples and then she blinks it all back and says, “She could bleed out and die if they can’t stop the amount of blood being lost.”

Halfway through that sentence, her tears starts and for a moment after, she grabs his collar and buries her face in it. “If I fucking lose her now, I’ll lose my mind. They may have to chain me up for life.”

He rubs her back and holds her because there are no words to say. She lets go after a few minutes, although he can feel it, his collar is soaked. 

“You need to eat something.” He whispers. 

She nods. She understands. She has been without sleep and food too. Even if anything edible will taste like sawdust now, she will be no good to Jin Su if she faints of exhaustion. He asks her to go to the waiting room and that he will bring her food.

Afterwards, he reaches the nursery and pulls Jin Guangyao aside to tell him. His face is much more expressive than most and the panic that Xiao Zhan feels in his stomach is all too evident on Jin Guangyao’s face. He wonders if Guangyao would be able to tell the Jins, but then it doesn’t matter anyways because Madame Jin notices their exchange and comes over. By then Wen Qing arrives and then she takes over, describing what is happening in words that he cannot. 

In the end, Jin Su requires an emergency hysterectomy and nine blood transfusions before she is finally brought to the ICU. 

His parents are in and out of the hospital with him those days, taking care to spend as much time next to the nursery as the Jins worry their heart out over their own child. Madame Jin essentially lives at the hospital and Jin Guangyao and his father alternate their time with her. 

They finally locate Wen Xu sometime that week. He is not in the country, but on the private island of some billionaire bachelor where he had evidently gone for… whatever it is that billionaire bachelors did with friends on private islands. That was private property, the entire fucking island. It wasn’t like his father could simply send in a helicopter to pluck him out. Once they manage to contact him, they still have to wait until he is ferried to the nearest island with a large enough landing strip to get him on a plane to bring him home. 

For the first time in as long as he can remember, his mother is worried about Wen Xu. Each day that passes while Jin Su is in the hospital and they are waiting for Wen Xu to arrive home, he sees her pacing the long hallways of the mansion, sometimes with a glass of wine in her hand and at other times without. He knows intuitively that she needs to be left alone. His father barely refers to Wen Xu at all, but does go to the hospital everyday with the rest of them to see Jin Su and the babies. 

The third day that Jin Su is in the ICU, there is finally news of Wen Xu. He is the one who picks up the call, although his mother comes down the stairs at just that moment and stands there staring at him. He can hear partially as someone at the other end tells him that Wen Xu is in their mortuary. He had died during his flight back. An embolic stroke. He had been asleep and no one had thought anything of it until it was almost time to land and they couldn’t wake him up. He had been taken to the nearest hospital immediately, which is where they were now keeping his body. He watches his mother’s face as he listens and sees her nostrils flare with a barely contained whimper and her eyes close even before he says anything. 

He can’t quite grasp it. The news. There is something surreal about the entire week that preceded it that this is almost too much to take in. 

His father comes down the stairs then, catches his death grip on the phone and his blank stare at his mom and asks, “What’s wrong?”

“Wen Xu is dead.” He says simply. 

“What?” his father asks, as if he didn’t understand. 

Maybe he had not spoken loud enough. 

“Wen Xu is dead.” He tries again, his voice seeming like someone else’s. And for a moment, he can see all of them from outside of his body. He and his father in various stages of disbelief. His mother already sobbing, crumbling at the foot of the stairs, great waves of it racking her body until she is physically shaking. His father is beside her in the next instant, pulling her up off her floor and into his arms. 

He watches with an inexplicable sense of detachment as she cries into his father’s chest for a long while. Wen Xu being dead is almost as strange as his father holding his mother. Then he takes her back upstairs, her head lolling weakly against his shoulder.

He sits on the couch for a long while staring at nothing, a sort of white noise filling his head. When he comes to, he calls the hospital back for its location and then finds a crematorium. Once those arrangements have been made, he goes upstairs to his parents’ room. His father is the one who opens the door. His mother is sleeping, he says, she hasn’t slept in days. 

He tells him of the arrangements he has already made and his father nods. 

“Once Jin Su is discharged, send her home with her parents.” 

He nods, although he is not sure that he understands any of the words.

Xxxxxx

At his father’s behest, the funeral ceremony occurs within two days. Jin Su is still not released from the hospital, but her parents and brother come. That are others who come too, almost all of them his parents’ friends and acquaintances. He wonders if Wen Xu ever really had any friends. If he did, they were not people who came to pay respects after death. Almost all of Wen Entertainment turns up. UNIQ does too. But he hardly notices. He hardly notices anyone. All the faces look the same to him. No one really stands out as someone who had any fondness for his brother. The only one who cries is his mother. She cries almost the entire time. On and off and on and off. The tears have no end, it seems. She cries for all the others who don’t cry. For all the love that is lost. Or never was. It seems to him a despair of many depths. For a life gone Unrealized. A death Unmourned. 

He recalls thinking once upon a time that it mattered not whether he was remembered beyond his death, that it made no difference if no one thought of him once he was gone… it seems dishonest now as he watches the sea of people who cares not one whit about the one who has passed on. This seems such a meaningless way to go. 

Especially when he already loved. And he knew he was loved in return too… He looks around to see if the one he is looking for has already left. He finally sees him at the door with the others, they are just about to leave. Although as if sensing it, Yibo looks back. Their eyes connect for a moment and Yibo’s steps falter. Wenhan straightens him automatically. 

Wenhan pulls on Yibo’s hand to let him know that he is holding up the people behind him. Yibo still doesn’t look away, but Xiao Zhan does. 

xxxxxx

Two days after the funeral, Jin Su is discharged. She and the babies go to stay with her parents in their home. Madame Jin asks Wen Qing to come too. She is traumatized by Jin Su’s brush with death and wants a doctor for the aftercare. Xiao Zhan can tell his father is pleased about that. Ruohan thinks of it as someone from the Wen family still being with the grandchildren. 

Almost exactly a month later, his father tells him that he thinks it’s time for Jin Su to return. He has allowed enough time, he thinks, and it’s time for the grandchildren to come home.

“Dad, that’s not a conversation _I’m_ going to have with Madame Jin.” He tells him plainly.

His father nods. He knows. He will call himself.

The call goes about as well as expected, which is to say, not well. There are some tense moments and then his mother takes over. She murmurs quietly into the phone and hangs up a few minutes later. 

“Two more months.” She says.

“Impossible.” His dad shakes his head.

“Jin Su gave birth to twins, Ruohan. She needs her mother.”

“She has Wen Qing. She will take care of her.”

At this point, he wonders if his father thinks Wen Qing’s time is just expendable to his whims or if he has an inkling of her relationship with Jin Su. But the latter is inconceivable really, so that leaves only the former. And that theory is more consistent with his father’s personality anyways. Ruohan orders and expects the order to be followed. No matter if you have to stand on your head to make it happen. 

“Wen Qing is not Jin Su’s mother.” His mother reminds his father. “Please let them keep her for two more months. She says we can visit anytime we want.”

“If they think just because my son is dead and their daughter is alive, they can claim the grandchildren, I will sue them from now to kingdom come.”

This is far more emotion than his father had shown even at the funeral.

Even his mother is taken aback. “No one is trying to take our grandchildren away from us.” She says definitively. 

That seems to pacify Ruohan somewhat, although in the next breath he says, “We will visit them tomorrow and then every three days so that they know we’re here and waiting.”

Xxxxx

It takes six months and the threat of a lawsuit before Jin Su returns to the mansion with the babies. Xiao Zhan had anticipated that she would be unhappy at the prospect, but she doesn’t seem to mind. He finds out the reason sooner than later. Because the first day Jin Su arrives, Wen Qing comes too. Wen Qing had only stayed with the Jins for that first month after Jin Su’s discharge. By then, Jin Su’s health had recovered enough that it was clear that Wen Qing did not need to be there. And so Wen Qing had moved out and back into her parents’ home. Temporary, she said, while she looked for her own apartment. Mrs. Wen was not inclined to agree, but Wen Qing was stubborn and that had been that. 

At the mansion, Wen Qing has carte blanche to come and go as she pleases. His mother is much warmer to her now that the marriage thing with him is off the table. His father seems only focused on making Jin Su happy. Because he seems to associate her happiness with the ability to keep the grandbabies – as he calls them now – in their home. A power struggle over the custody of the grandchildren between the Jins and the Wens is bound to become high profile. As there is already the shadow of their father’s death hanging over their heads, Ruohan wants nothing else to become an issue. And for nothing else to become an issue, Jin Su gets more attention from him that either of his children had gotten in their entire life. For Xiao Zhan, it’s reassuring to see that even in his affections, Ruohan is calculating. Because, the image of Ruohan as a doting and fiercely protective grandpa is an alternate reality that his brain cannot assimilate. 

When Wen Qing says that she is looking for an apartment one evening when she is over for dinner, it’s his father who asks her to move back in. “Why bother with an apartment? There is so much room here. Way more than we ever use. Besides, A’Zhan and Jin Su will be happy for the company.” Jin Su smiles. Xiao Zhan gives Wen Qing a look, one that she returns, an eyebrow cocked. A happily ever after arranged for by Ruohan seems to come straight out of the upside-down. 

Within two weeks, Wen Qing is moved in, properly this time. His mother watches this all with amusement and tells him that she thinks Wen Qing must have taken the sword meant for a king in her past life for the luck that she seemed to have. 

“Luck? She watched the woman she loves almost bleed to death.” He reminds her. 

Her smile disappears. She remembers. Everyone remembers those weeks. They may wish to forget, but they don’t. 

“Hey, I’m sorry.” He says now, pulling her into his arms. 

She shakes her head, but stays in his hold for a while, drawing in his warmth. 

Between Wen Qing and Jin Su and his dad and mom, it is not until the twins start to cruise that he starts to get to spend any significant amount of time with them. They are an exuberant bunch, almost performative in their antics to get attention. Which is strange, because attention is the one thing that they don’t lack. But they eat it up, affectionate creatures that they are. 

Wen Yuan and Wen Lu. Although he thinks it poetic justice that it’s his father who starts calling the little princess Xiao Lu. A’ Yuan and Xiao Lu. 

As much as he thinks it would be Xiao Lu whom he would have more attachment with, it turns out it’s the boy. 

A’ Yuan gets all the attention from his mother because Xiao Lu gets all the attention from his father. Jin Su and Wen Qing are equal opportunity employers, doling out equal attention to both the infants. Jin Su’s brother adores them both, but babies Xiao Lu to some clearly insane degree. He wonders if that’s the reason A’ Yuan takes an affinity to him. The other uncle is his jie-jie’s, so this uncle is his. Either way, he finds himself amused. He had never spent enough time around children to develop any sort of appreciation for them, instinctively viewing them as death-anchors around their parents’ neck. But these ones, and he wonders if they are just special children, they are quite cute. He could see how people could really be taken in by them. 

xxxxxxx

Mr. Wang had asked for recent pictures of the twins over the phone the last time he called, so he makes sure to pose them in the best light out in the garden as he aims his camera. They are on a large picnic blanket and the women are all sitting around them as he snaps the pictures. But in every picture, while Xiao Lu smiles right into the camera, A’Yuan keeps trying to crawl off the blanket. He takes about twenty and thinks at least a few have come out okay. He looks through them again in the cab to Mr. Wang’s house, absently clutching his belly when it whines in hunger. It does that whenever he is on this cab ride like Pavlov’s dog, salivating at the prospect of something delicious waiting at its destination. 

UNIQ will be returning to China next week. The negotiations to bring them back had gone back and forth for months until YG had finally agreed to let them ride out the rest of their contract before allowing them to move back. They still had to return to Korea on occasion, but for now, homebase was going to be China. It was a bit upsetting for Sungjoo and Seungyoun, although given how long their other members had been away from home, they have made their peace with it. Besides, they have a lot more tours now, so homebase was just a place to collect mail. 

Yibo’s junior year at University is almost over. He continues to do well, his GPA now closer to 3.6 as his classes are in his major rather than just gen ed. or electives. He is still with Jackson and if the math is right, it would be about a year and a half, maybe almost two, since they’ve been together. He looks happy in the UNIQ life videos that he has seen. And Xiao Zhan is happy for him. Mostly. He allows the 20% of him that has other feelings to exist in its own shell. No need to feel bad or good about it. 

He has hardly seen Yibo since Wen Xu’s funeral and even with their impending return, given their tour schedule, he doesn't expect anything to change. He would just have to coordinate with Mr. Wang to make sure that from now on, he only visited when Yibo is on tour. 

He had stopped at his regular fruit stall to get some clementines and the citrus scent fills him with eagerness as he steps out of the cab. It had become Mr. Wang’s habit to leave the front door open for him, so it’s strange to find it locked now. He rings the bell and waits. 

A moment later, the door opens to the wide smiling eyes of Jackson. 

“Yes, it’s him, Mr. Wang.” Jackson calls out. 

“Hey…” he murmurs, the surprise rooting him to the spot. 

“Hey, come in, come in. Mr. Wang has been cooking all morning for you.”

“What are you doing here?” he asks, unable to help himself. He still didn’t make a move to come inside the house.

“Oh, I came with Yibo.” He says happily, now pulling him inside the house by the arm.

“Oh.” 

He stands inside the doorway without moving in any further and has to physically fight the urge to not turn around and leave. 

He couldn’t imagine that Yibo didn’t know that he was coming. If what he said that day long ago on tv was true, Yibo usually knew of his trips at least a week ahead of time. 

It seems an unusually cruel thing to do then to come here with Jackson the same weekend that he is visiting. 

“It’s a full house today. The kids surprised me this morning.” Mr. Wang says, walking out of the kitchen, clearly delighted at this turn of events. “I hope I’ve made enough.”

“There’s literally a mountain of food here. I think you can feed the entire neighborhood for a solid week.” He hears Yibo call out from the kitchen. 

Mr. Wang chuckles. “He’s kidding. He thinks I make too much food when I know you’re coming over.”

“You shouldn’t have.” He says as Mr. Wang takes the bag of fruits from him.

When he still doesn't move in further into the living room, Mr. Wang turns back, his eyes crinkling in concern. “Are you okay?” he asks.

Before he can answer, a movement out of the corner of his eye catches his attention and he turns to see Yibo come out of the kitchen. He pauses by the doorway there though, still quite a distance away.

After a long moment of staring, Yibo says, “So, you just gonna stand there or are you going to come in? All this food is not going to eat itself.” 

He feels the heat of anger rise at the back of his neck.

Asshole.


	36. Cease to Exist

He doesn’t look Yibo’s way again as he helps Mr. Wang set up the table for lunch. Jackson keeps up a steady stream of conversation and he is thankful as it keeps Mr. Wang engaged. 

He starts out thinking that he can make it through, but halfway through lunch he decides that he cannot and texts MianMian to call him in five minutes. She does just as he is finishing his soup, which today tastes like bitter water. He excuses himself to step out, waits the requisite few minutes holding the phone to his ear and murmuring back at intervals before coming back inside to let Mr. Wang know that he has been called back urgently and that he would take the earliest train back.

“Oh, that’s a bummer.” Jackson says and he tries to look appropriately disappointed as he says, “Yea, maybe next time.” before walking out. Mr. Wang comes out after him and looks crestfallen enough that Xiao Zhan wraps his arms around him without thinking. Mr. Wang is thinner than he looks under his regular layers of clothes. It makes Xiao Zhan’s eyes water and he blinks it back as he says, “Thank you. For everything. I have always looked forward to coming here. More than you can imagine.” It must sound like the goodbye that it is and he tries to downplay it now by adding, “I’m glad he is back. For good this time. Don’t let him fly so far away from you again.” He smiles when he pulls back. Mr. Wang looks a bit confused and a bit sad and it’s a little too much so he waves bye and is on his way soon after.

He walks down the road, knowing that he should call a cab. But he ends up walking. His phone rings and he looks at it to see that it’s Yibo. He declines the call, but a minute later, it rings again. He declines it one more time and turns left onto a side road that’s a bit off the beaten path. There’s a small brook off to the side and a bench that he only sees once he walks a bit, hidden as it is by trees and shrubs. 

The phone beeps now with a text and it’s from Yibo again. It says _Please Don’t Go Anywhere. I’m coming_. He turns the phone off and sure enough, within a few minutes, he hears someone running down the street that he had been on earlier.

He looks back at the water, which looks a bit dehydrated even by its shallow standards. It sounds like silence in the beginning, although pretty soon it’s clear that it’s not. Birds, a lot of them chirping, some of them singing, sounds that sound distinct and similar all at the same time, although he doesn’t know how to tell them apart. Insects too, some buzzing, some melodic. There’s a lilt to the flowing water, all the more for how little there is. The air seems to speak too after a while, and he decides that it’s time enough for Yibo to have gone back home. 

He walks for a mile or two before he hails a cab to the train station. He takes the regular bullet that he usually takes and falls asleep on the train, for which he feels grateful. When he finally turns the phone back on, there are several voicemails and 18 text messages. He deletes all of them without reading or listening. And blocks the number too. There is a hollow space in his chest where he used to feel things. Even pain is gone now. It is just… hollow. 

Xiao Lu is asleep when he gets home, but Jin Su is carrying around A’ Yuan who she thinks is teething because he has been fussy all afternoon and evening. Even now, he is whimpering, lying against her chest. He reaches for the baby without thinking and then wonders if that was too presumptuous. But before he can take his arms back, A’Yuan climbs onto him, laying his head against his shoulder. The baby still whimpers but doesn’t lift his head again. Jin Su smiles at him, looking relieved. She tells him that Wen Qing had fallen asleep with Xiao Lu and that his parents are still out at the charity gala. He nods and sends her off to bed, letting her know that he’ll put A’Yuan down in his nursery when he is asleep. He has every intention of doing just that when he goes to the nursery, but then sits down on the rocking chair and falls asleep with A’Yuan. He doesn’t wake until he hears Jin Su whispering, “A’Zhan… wake up.” 

He comes to slowly and the warmth of A’Yuan’s little body is a cocoon, some of it flowing into the hollow that he had so keenly felt inside earlier that evening. Jin Su reaches for the baby with a smile and he tries not to show his reluctance to let go of the warmth as he hands him over. A’Yuan fidgets only a little before he settles against his mother, his pudgy fingers somehow finding its grip on a lock of her hair. He smiles absently, seeing the gesture, and is surprised when Jin Su reaches up to push a lock of his hair back from his forehead. No one aside from his mother touches him that way and he is surprised. Not unpleasantly though.

He looks at her and she asks, gently, “You okay?”

Her eyes are kind and warm and he wonders at Wen Xu’s good grace that he had found her to mother his children. 

He nods.

“Sleep well.” She says, pulling her hand back. 

He nods again and then watches her put A’Yuan down in his crib before walking to his own room. 

He sleeps better than he thought he would. 

xxxxxx

A week later, two days after UNIQ’s official return back to China, MianMian comes to his office to say that Yibo is requesting a meeting with him.

“I’m busy. Anything he needs, Haikuan can handle. Or my mom.”

“He says he just wants five minutes.”

“I’ve hardly anything to do with their day-to-day. There is really no reason for him to see me.”

MianMian is quiet then and he looks up at her from his laptop.

“Are you avoiding him?”

“No. I have no reason to avoid him. Or to see him, really. Please tell him to not show up without an appointment next time.”

MianMian stands there staring at him for a moment and he studiously ignores her glare. Then she sighs and leaves.

Yibo comes again the next day.

“I thought I told him to not show up without an appointment.” 

“But he made an appointment.”

He looks up. “You let him make an appointment?”

“Well, isn’t that what you said?” she asks.

“I told him to not show up without an appointment. Not that he would get one. And I certainly didn’t tell you to let him make an appointment.”

She sighs and leaves. 

Yibo comes again the next day. Clearly with no appointment.

“I’m starting to lose my patience.” He says when MianMian announces that he is requesting just five minutes.

“Why are you so mean to him?” she asks, miffed.

His expression is nothing as he says, “I don’t like him, MianMian. Is that good enough? I don’t like him. I don’t wish to see him. I don’t have time for him. I wish that he would stop this and focus on preparing for his trip next week.” 

She is too upset with him to answer that and walks to the door. When she opens it, her voice is unnaturally high as she says, “Yibo.”

He looks up and across the room, catching Yibo’s shocked face outside. He feels nothing as he looks back down at his laptop. 

Wang Yibo had ceased to exist for him. 

xxxxxxxxxxx


	37. Haikuan's Intervention

The UNIQ tour to Singapore has the most attendance of all their tours thus far and the boys come back two weeks later, the next tour to Hong Kong not for another month. Haikuan has been keeping him up-to-date - as he has been over the past two years anyways – and he seems particularly excited that UNIQ’s reach is widening. He wants to schedule one for Canada and parts of Europe six months out and Xiao Zhan nods. That had been the aim from the beginning anyways.

It takes him a moment to figure out that Haikuan is lingering, even though their meeting is over. 

He closes his laptop and turns to him and tilts his head, his expression one of amusement. “If this much silence is preceding whatever you want to say next, I assume this is going to be about Jin Guangyao.” He says. 

Haikuan smiles sheepishly. 

“So, I’m thinking about asking Guanyao to… marry me.”

His eyes almost fall out of their sockets, they are so wide.

“What??? His parents are okay with it?” And then, “Wait, you didn’t ask his parents, obviously.”

“I did.” Haikuan says.

“Come again?” he asks, not sure that he has the ability to absorb so many shocks all at the same time.

“Yea, I asked them. He is so close to them and with everything that happened with Jin Su, I just thought, I would rather be upfront with them so that at least I know what their position is. It’s not like they don’t know about us, but marriage is… you know, different.”

“What did they say?” 

“They were polite. Asked me to give them some time to think about it.”

“Wow!” he answers. In their world, not being ridiculed, turned into an outcast, or taken off the family registry were itself a great thing, much less someone actually considering giving them permission to be legitimately recognized as bound together for life. 

“That’s incredible.” He pauses. “What if they say no?” he asks.

“I doubt they would do that.” Haikuan is confident.

“Why?” 

“Well, first of all, I think they genuinely like me. They know I love their son almost as much as they do.” He pauses and is more somber now as he says, “I think it made a big difference seeing what Jin Su went through with her marriage even before… almost dying from giving birth. They love seeing her so happy now and I think they also have some clue that your cousin has something to do with it.”

“So they’ve given up on more grandchildren?” he asks, sitting back. This is quite unbelievable. The Jins are an old conservative family. They also have too much visibility in society to take this risk.

“If we want children, we can always use a surrogate. I don’t think that’s really an issue.”

“Wow…” he says again. “If none of that is the issue, then what _is_ the issue?”

“Well… I hope he says yes.”

“What?? Of all the… of course he’ll say yes. He is very much in love with you.” Out of all the things that were uncertain, he was fairly certain Jin Guangyao’s feelings about Haikuan were about the only 1000% guarantee.

Haikuan scoffs at that. “You are very much in love with a certain idol. Have been for what, going on 3 years? And for all that, all that boy has ever gotten is rejection and… more rejection. So, feelings have little to do with actions. And they certainly don’t have anything to do with commitment.”

His mood sours immediately and he turns to his laptop to flip it open. “What rejection? He moved on like 2 years ago. Doing well in his career, love life, and now back home too. Seems happy enough to me. And either way, our lives went separate ways a long time ago. I have nothing to do with him personally anymore.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me you actually don’t know that he and Jackson are each other’s beards.”

He keeps his eyes trained on his laptop, willing himself not to react.

Haikuan seems to interpret his silence accurately enough and speaks again, “Hello! we did that for like a whole year! You should know all the signs by now.”

“I don’t know the signs. Tell me, what are they?”

“For one, Jackson has been trying to get with Park Jinyoung for ages. Jinyoung is either too shy, still bicurious, or gaypanicked to fully give in. I think it started off with Jackson hitting on Yibo to make Jinyoung jealous. And at some point, Yibo decided to play along too for his own reasons, whatever they maybe, although I’m inclined to think that it’s probably because he’s holding the eternal candle for a sadomasochist.” Haikuan pauses and Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes. 

When he doesn’t say anything, Haikuan continues, “They are sort of besties now. Jackson is a bit wild and out there, you know. I think he feels safe with Yibo. He can be as crazy as he wants and Yibo doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Then why does my mom think they’re together?” he asks.

“Xiao Zhan, everyone thinks they’re together. That’s sort of their shtick. Although, your mom is pretty perceptive. There is no way she doesn’t know that they’re not actually together, no matter what they say.”

He takes a breath and finally turns back in Haikuan’s direction. “That is neither here, nor there. We were talking about your impending proposal, not my nonexistent love-life with _an employee_.” He puts particular emphasis on the ending so that it’s clear to Haikuan why that whole thing is a no-go to begin with, no matter what shtick Yibo has been playing for two years with Jackson.

“You know, at some point, you have to fucking figure out if you’re going to fight for someone. Whether that’s asking their parents for permission, going to get married in some other country even though you really want to do it where you live and love. Or freaking figuring out how to be with the love of your life even when he is an employee. _You figure it out_. If you don’t, you just don’t deserve him.”

The last line hits him hard and he closes his eyes to take a quick breath. 

“Maybe I just don’t deserve him.” he says, opening them. 

Haikuan looks at him for a long moment and then his gaze is pitying. “If you believe so deeply that you’re a Wen through and through and there’s no rising above that, it’s a sad path for your niece and nephew.”

“What does it have to do with them?”

“Hell, they’re Wens too.”

“Yea, but they are part Jin. And clearly that part is wonderful if going by what you’re saying.”

“Dude, what about your mother? She is literally the best human being I’ve ever come across. I’m not afraid to admit that I am fully in love with her in an entirely non-sexual way. You came out of her womb. _Her womb_. She literally carried you for 9 months inside her, in all her awesomeness. How do you discount that so easily?”

He sighs. “This conversation is really tiring, Haikuan. Especially here.”

“This conversation is tiring anytime and anywhere we’re going to have it, Xiao Zhan. And it’s long long overdue. Especially because you’re the most stubborn thing I’ve ever met in my entire life. Honest to God. Didn’t you like me for like 10 years without doing anything? Why? Because you didn’t want to risk losing me if we dated? Okay, fine, I get that. That requires some phenomenal self-control, you may think. But really, it’s also because you just didn’t want me bad enough. Maybe you stay away from Yibo because you don’t want him bad enough.”

“Of course I do.” He says reflexively. 

Haikuan raises an eyebrow.

He sighs again, dropping his forehead onto the heels of his palms. 

“No matter what you do, that boy is just not going to move on. Time and distance mean nothing to him if you think you can scare him off or tire him out. So you figure out if you want to waste more of these years away like you’ve been doing the past two or if you’re going to grow some ovaries about this. Because clearly, balls ain’t doing nothing for you.”

He lifts his head off his hands and stares at Haikuan. And then narrows his eyes.

“Did MianMian ask you to do an intervention? Is that what’s happening here? Because you’re never this forceful about someone else’s love life.”

“Can’t I care?” Haikuan asks.

“You can. But you care by leaving people alone, not by getting all up in their beeswax. Tell me, is it MianMian?”

Now Haikuan sighs and then nods. “She just thought you needed a little kick on your stubborn rump. Besides, have you seen Yibo sad? She said she felt like she had killed a bunny.”

He couldn’t imagine Yibo sad. Upset, yes. But sad, that was too much to even imagine. So, he stopped imagining it.

“So when will they give you an answer?” he asks.

“They asked me to come to their home this weekend.” Haikuan answers, easily switching back to the topic at hand. He knows when he has said enough. And when to let it be. “Guangyao is away on business, so it’s a good time for them to… well, say and do whatever they want to do to me.” He laughs now.

Xiao Zhan lifts an eyebrow. “Well, I can camp outside the Jin mansion if you need someone to drag your body out to take it back to your parents.” 

Haikuan smiles. “So… I hear A’Yuan has adopted you as his favorite uncle.”

“Only because Xiao Lu already adopted the only other uncle available.” 

“When you marry Yibo, make one just like him. That gene pool should definitely propagate.” 

Imagining little Yibos does his heart no good, so he asks instead, “What are you implying? My gene pool requires no propagation?” 

“I thought that’s what _you_ have been saying all your life.” 

“Ah.” He tilts his head back. “Touché.” He adds, smiling. 

“Honestly though, I’m afraid of your genes. It’s strong stuff. Like world domination strong. It might be too much for the mortals to handle to have multiples of you.”

He stares for a moment, fighting the urge to laugh and then gives into it. “Good save.”

Haikuan’s eyes crinkle in merriment. “So, France? Be my best man?” he asks.

“Always.” He answers. 

xxxxx


	38. Sanren's Intervention

He feels the fingers brush through his hair gently, almost absently, and tries not to snuggle into it. They are not quite his mother’s fingers, but this was a different sort of comfort, just as maternal, especially because Jin Su smelled perpetually like milk. It must pull on some ancient memories for him, because he could swear, he can remember lying like this on his mother’s lap a long long time ago when life had been simpler and his world had been just his mother. 

His eyes are closed and there is a breeze that the late afternoon sun seems to want to be on friendly terms with. That and Jin Su’s soft fingers are making him think that he could fall asleep like this. The bundle on his chest has been sleeping for the past twenty minutes and A’ Yuan’s body is like a fluffy little bunny, pressing down on him. He smells a bit like Jin Su, but also like baby powder.

Jin Su is reading some YA romance, her favorite genre. He often makes fun of her for it, but she is adamant that YA as a genre is much more difficult to write than adult novels, her reasoning being that the true mark of a great novelist is someone who can till the imagination of even the youngest of the lot. “When you write novels for adults, you can get a bit caught up in showing off your word knowledge and your finesse in weaving them into beautiful prose.”

“What’s wrong with that?” he had asked. “That too requires a skill.”

“I don’t disagree. I’m just saying that it takes someone particularly adept to make a child understand the wonder of living, of ambiguity, of dissonance, of love.”

He didn’t read YA, so he told her he would have to take her word for it. Although what she said had struck a chord with him. Distilling the complicated into the simple required patience. As an adult, it was much easier to go the other way and overanalyze the basics.

“You asleep?” he hears Jin Su now, her voice more a vibration against his ears than actual sound. 

He opens his eyes and looks up into hers. She has a slight smile. He raises an eyebrow. She usually lets him lay on her lap for ages when they picnicked like this in the backyard with the babies, usually when Wen Qing had to work weekend hours at the hospital or actually had to go in when on-call. His mother would usually be here too, one of the babies with her, but she had to go into the office today for some UNIQ event. 

Xiao Lu is sleeping right next to Jin Su.

“Are your legs numb?’’ he asks, shifting slightly, taking care not to shift A’ Yuan. 

She shakes her head, but then looks up, thus entreating him to look up too.

His mother is standing by the door to the house, still in the Maggie Cheung dress that she had on when she left this morning.

He smiles at her and she smiles back as she starts walking in their direction.

He doesn’t move to get up because there is no need. She will likely join them for a bit, although she would be more comfortable if she changed out of her…

He doesn’t get to finish the thought as she moves out of the way and then he can see behind her. 

The view is sideways from his vantage point and he tilts his head just a bit.

“Jin Su…” he whispers.

“Hmm…” she asks, looking down at him at his tone.

“Do you see someone behind mom?”

Because it would be just like him to hallucinate Yibo. Nowadays, he thought he saw Yibo everywhere. 

“Yes.” she whispers back behind her book. “Oh shit, it’s Wang Yibo!”

He watches Yibo standing by the doorway, his view of him still sideways, and he is glad that A’Yuan is a trusting secure weight on top of him. 

“What a picture-perfect family.” His mother says with a laugh, kicking off her heels and dropping down onto the picnic blanket as if this poses no threat of ripping the dress. She reaches into a bowl of strawberries and pops one in her mouth.

After a moment, she turns back to Yibo, gesturing him over, before calling out, “Just relax here for a bit. I’ll get the outfit in a moment.”

There is a strange déjà vu when Yibo hesitates a moment more before starting to move. 

“I got an outfit custom-made for his solo performance for the next tour but they had it delivered here instead of the office. I want him to try it on to see if it fits. I think he’s lost some weight since the last fitting though, what do you think?” she asks in her characteristic oh-I-didn’t-realize-this-is-awkward-oh-fuck-but-I-did face. He gives her a look, which she returns with an amused grin before his gaze finds Yibo’s again. Although now, Yibo is no longer looking at him, but at Jin Su and her hand lingering absently on his hair. He looks up at Jin Su and she looks down at him to smile before turning her gaze back on Yibo and smiling her brightest smile. Then she extends a hand and says, “You’re so beautiful. I’m a huge fan.” And then, “Of your dancing, I mean, not your beauty. I mean, not that I’m not a fan of that too…” She cracks up now and shakes her head and says, “My mouth is full of wool, seriously, you’re so pretty. I’m a little overwhelmed.” 

He tries not to roll his eyes, although when he sees Yibo’s shy smile as he extends his hand to shake Jin Su’s, he is quite pleased with Jin Su’s bullshit. 

His mother is laughing in glee now, pulling Yibo down next to her even before he fully takes his shoes off.

“He’s like a third son, you know.” She says to Jin Su. 

He’s glad to hear that at least posthumously, Wen Xu has reclaimed first son status. 

Jin Su grins and looks down at him, wiggling her eyebrows. “I don’t think this mama’s boy is going to share that easily.” 

“Oh you don’t know Jin Su. It’s a secret trade. Going on for years. Yibo gets me while this one gets Yibo’s dad. All those times he led us to believe he’s hitting up a booty call in Luoyang every two months…” She shakes her head now, as if this is quite unbelievable. “Yup, no booty call. He’s just going to see his adopted dad.” 

“Mom!” he says in a whisper, forceful though it is, and covers the baby’s ears. 

He sneaks a glance at Yibo, notices that he is looking this way, and looks back at Jin Su, shaking his head. “No such thing, really, Jin Su. Just visiting a friend.”

Jin Su looks confused, looking between the three of them, while at the same time trying to take A’Yuan from Xiao Zhan’s chest, but he tightens his hold automatically and sits up carefully with him, readjusting the baby so that his head is resting against his shoulder. 

His mom just laughs and picks up a piece of pineapple with a toothpick, musing, “I thought you were going to be out today.” 

He gives her a look that says, _You definitely knew I was going to be home today_.

She winks at him and then turns in Jin Su’s direction. “How long have they been napping?” 

“Long enough, I think. If they don’t wake up now, it’ll be hell to get them to sleep in the evening.”

Xiao Lu fidgets then, as if she had gotten the memo, but A’Yuan simply snuggles in and it makes Xiao Zhan wrap his arm around even more as he sniffs the baby’s temple. It’s the sort of smell that makes him sniff him again. “I could just eat him.” he murmurs, burying his nose against the baby’s nape.

Xiao Lu sits up then and looks around, notices that there is someone new and stares. Xiao Zhan looks at Yibo to see what he will do. Yibo simply stares back at Xiao Lu. 

Xiao Zhan purses his lips so he won’t burst out laughing. He looks at Jin Su and notices that she is doing the same.

His mother pokes Yibo in the waist and he looks at her startled. “You having a staring contest with a 10-month old?”

“Sorry.” He murmurs, although now that she has lost his attention, Xiao Lu crawls over to Yibo until she is right next to him. Yibo looks back at her and holds himself deathly still and then it’s starting contest, part 2.

“It’s like watching the Animal Planet.” Jin Su whispers.

It’s true. Yibo does look like he is following the advice of encountering a wild animal. Hold your gaze, don’t back off, don’t come closer, don’t run away, stare them down until they retreat.

Except, Xiao Lu appears to establish herself the victor this round and proceeds to climb onto Yibo’s lap. There is nothing about Yibo that seems child friendly as he sits there, a bit panicked, his arms around Xiao Lu like a hula hoop, not quite touching, but just there to make sure she won’t fall backwards. 

“If she falls back and hurts herself, I’ll personally see to it that you’re never seen on this Earth again.” They hear and look up startled to see his father up on the balcony, a cup of coffee in one hand, looking down now, the other hand gripping the railing.

His first instinct is to leap and take the baby from Yibo and to then hide Yibo behind him, but A’Yuan is in his arms and he forces himself to calm down and not overreact.

“It’s okay, I’ll take him, Yibo.” Jin Su whispers and reaches over, but his father interrupts with, “Hold her properly, Yibo.” And Yibo does, as if on command, well it is on command, the hula hoop closing and his arms now actually holding her, albeit quite gently. 

Xiao Lu had been looking up at Ruohan and now looks back at Yibo. 

They stare at each other for a moment more before Xiao Lu giggles. 

They all watch in avid fascination to see what Yibo is going to do because he is still staring. 

This boy and his staring.

Xiao Lu giggles again and this time Yibo cracks a smile, although he immediately pinches his lips together as if that is not allowed. 

Xiao Zhan looks at Jin Su, who is grinning, and then he looks at his mom, who is grinning too. He looks up at his dad, who is watching as if it was nothing less than he expected. 

He had known that his father was home somewhere, but he had been on business calls all morning and he hadn’t expected him to venture out to people-watch on the balcony. 

Wen Ruohan’s business trips had shortened quite a bit and he had been sending Xiao Zhan more often than not in his stead, here and there and everywhere, until his position as Wen Entertainment’s VP had officially been taken over by Haikuan last week – his father basically bulldozing through and stating that his mother and Haikuan could handle Wen Entertainment, while his son’s skills were now really needed elsewhere in the Wen Group. 

As far as keeping him from seeing Yibo, his father may have succeeded with this particular move, even with Yibo now back in China. 

He guessed that’s what he owed his mother’s current intervention to; she trying to personally create opportunities for them to meet. 

It wasn’t that Xiao Zhan hadn’t tried to meet Yibo before. In fact, after that conversation with Haikuan two weeks ago, he had called Yibo several times, but they were all declined, not even allowing him to leave a voicemail. 

The boys now all basically had their own flats, all in the same building, but their own spaces nonetheless. They were successful enough to do so and besides, Yixuan is almost 33. Made no sense to make him or even Sungjoo have roommates. Haikuan had asked Seungyoun and Yibo if they wanted to room together – seeing as how Yibo preferred living with people in general and it would be Seungyoun’s first time truly relocating to China. But they had both agreed that they would rather have their own flats; Haikuan was of the opinion that they both wanted the privacy to bring people back without worrying about roommates.

“You know, he’s probably trying to protect you.” That had been Haikuan’s view.

“How?” he had scoffed.

“Would you be caught dead at his place if you knew all his brothers were there?” 

He had remembered that night long ago when he had sneaked in and thought that yea, he likely would. 

“He won’t even return my calls, I hardly think he’s trying to figure out how to give me privacy in the off-chance that deep in the distant future, he may need to protect… _me_.” It sounded strange to even say it out loud… Yibo protecting him. How was that even a thing. He protected Yibo. That was sort of their whole thing.

“He’s not? Thank God! I thought you would call up and apologize and he would take you back like the whipped puppy that he is. You’re far too spoiled in his affections.”

Xiao Zhan had simply shaken his head, but Haikuan had been just getting started. “And a few freaking declined calls. Give me a break. I have it on good authority that you need to beg and plead on bended knees, groveling, sniveling, sniffling…”

“What… the fuck?” he had asked. And then, “And who is this “good authority”?”

Haikuan had smiled and then laughed. “Who do you think?”

“Fuck, really? She has been with me all these years, and she just up and switched sides just like that?”

“Well, she says when you turn mean, “it’s a sight” - yes, those were her exact words, I think she was looking up “Asshole boyfriend trying to get you back” in a thesaurus and it just spit out a whole bunch of verbs.”

He had shaken his head. “Yibo is so fucking lethal. If Mianmian is that dedicated to him already, can you imagine the death threats that I’m going to get in the future from his crazy fans?“

“Oh, so there is a future?” a sardonic cocking of Haikuan’s eyebrow. And Xiao Zhan had arrived at the conclusion that people in happy relationships were smug self-satisfied dipshits.

“I thought the whole point of you egging me on to go after him was for this future.”

“Listen, given that this is the situation and you both are sort of in it now for good, if you really think about it, this is the best-case scenario. At least for him. If you were a regular guy, there is no way the relationship would be equal and no matter how strong the love is, you would end up being the saint or the bitter unhappy long-suffering other half.” A pause and then, “Your family being powerful and filthy rich and your father being the almighty Wen Ruohan and you being… _you_ … pretty petty little asshole that you are, you’re sort of the ideal for him. You’re protective and possessive as hell, and has the means to not put up with any kind of shit from anyone. No matter how crazy."

“Except my father.” He had felt the need to point out.

“Including your father. Think about it, what is he going to do? You’re now literally his only heir. Dude, not just that, you are actually the perfect heir. No matter how much you hate it, there is just enough of him in you to make this whole shit work. And if you genuinely did not care about running an empire or about your family, you would have left them all a long time ago. And taken your mom with you. She would have come in a heartbeat if you asked. So, whatever it may be, however you reason it out, there is a reason you have stayed and there is a reason you still stay. It may not be some secret affection for your father, but there is some attachment there, maybe just the recognition that even if you hate it, you sort of belong to him. And he sort of belongs to you too. And you know what, if he gives you shit about Yibo, fucking show him that you won’t put up with it. I don’t think you realize this, but your father needs you more than you need him. That’s your bargaining chip. Accept Yibo, or else…”

Haikuan had stopped there and Xiao Zhan had just sat back in wonder, staring at him. Haikuan had stared back, after a moment stating, “Wait, before you wonder how I’ve given so much thought to your relationship, it’s not like that. A lot of those were scenarios that I had imagined in my head about what could happen with my own situation. Fortunately, the Jins are a bit more reasonable and a bit less intimidating than your father.”

They had clearly also agreed to the wedding, which Haikuan was hoping to have in about 10 months’ time, right after UNIQ is done with their Canada/Europe tour. 

“So no matter the weeks and months and years, if Yibo gives me the silent treatment, you’re saying I should hang in there and keep trying. Like a freakin’ creepy stalker who can’t take no for an answer.” He had said, posing it not so much as a question but as a statement.

“Indeed.” Haikuan had answered nevertheless, not without a sly grin. Although after a moment he had become serious and had added, “Obviously, I’m kidding. If Yibo has really decided that enough is enough and want nothing more to do with you, well, then yea, retreat in grace. I believe you may be familiar with the former even if you’re totally lacking in the latter where he is concerned.”

He looks at Yibo now while his mother and Jin Su pack up the foods spread out on the picnic blanket back into their containers. Xiao Lu is still inspecting Yibo’s features and occasionally giggling – the girl is clearly a hetero and experiencing her first ever love-at-first-sight – and Yibo is responding with his shy smile, holding her in his arms still way too carefully as if he is afraid that if he held any tighter, she would break. 

Xiao Zhan watches the scene and then noses A’Yuan's cheeks and the baby moves a little before settling again. 

Fuck that. There is no way in hell he is going to retreat. With or without grace. Ever.


	39. Ruohan's Intervention

Yibo stays for the fitting – his mom makes a big show of it – but he declines her offer to stay for dinner. Xiao Zhan thinks she would ask him to drive Yibo back to his flat, but she doesn’t. She must have guessed the present situation just from their interaction – or lack thereof – and likely knows when she’s pushed enough.

The next week, Yibo is back again, although this time, he comes alone. His mother is not even home at the time. In fact, even the babies are with their other set of grandparents along with Jin Su and Wen Qing. 

He doesn’t know that Yibo is in the mansion until he knocks on his father’s study to talk to him about his upcoming trip, incidentally coinciding with UNIQ’s trip to Hong Kong next week, although he is not going anywhere even close. No, instead, he will be in Brooklyn for close to a week, mainly to finalize the sale of an apartment that his father has bought in some place called Dumbo. Who knew for what? His father acquired property all over the world simply for the hell of it. The trip had been sprung on him last minute, his father deciding that he simply did not want to be away that long. It was like his father had simply decided to flip a switch; a lot of these trips nowadays that he pawned off on his son were simply, _I’m just not doing it, so you do it_. Anything that took him away from China for too long – a week now being too long, where before a month was considered a short trip – Ruohan now deemed a direct threat to establishing himself as the preferred grandpa over the Jin patriarch. Who knew the Universe would grant his father, of all people, the liberty and leisure to mellow into grandparenthood in such a fashion? 

He now wondered if his father had ever truly loved Wen Xu. It almost seemed like Ruohan had deemed the exchange of Wen Xu’s life for the twins as not entirely an unfair trade. Aside from his mother, no one even seemed to remember Wen Xu anymore. And he felt that betrayal so keenly from his father. The man who had so clearly preferred Wen Xu over him when they were growing up and had allowed Wen Xu to become as bad as he did by enabling all his crap. Xiao Zhan knew that he himself had been party to it too. Being the one who fixed all the shit after it happened. It was something that he would have to carry with him all his life. But whereas he at least felt some kind of way about it, his father seemed to have forgotten that Wen Xu even existed. 

When he knocks on the door of his father’s study now, he hears a ‘come in’ and when he enters, he notices the back of the person sitting on the chair opposite his father, who is reclining in his massive leather swivel chair. 

It takes a moment longer than it would otherwise to notice that it’s Yibo’s back only because it’s so unexpected.

“What’s he doing here?” he asks, forgetting why he even came in.

His father looks at him, but doesn’t respond.

“What are you doing with him?” he asks, walking further into the room.

This gets a raised eyebrow from his father.

And now Yibo turns to look at him.

“Whatever it is, he is innocent. Honestly.” He says, no longer even thinking about what he is saying.

“Xiao Zhan.” His father’s voice is now a warning. 

“Fuck it. What did he say?” he looks at Yibo to ask.

Yibo’s face is now fully turned in his direction and he’s blinking rapidly and widening his eyes. Whatever the fuck that means.

“Are you threatening him?” he asks, coming to a stop as the words leave his mouth.

He feels cold inside all of a sudden, it spreading down his limbs slowly. He doesn’t think it’s fear as much as it is… rage.

“Are you threatening him?” he asks again, his voice now cold, his expression shuttered.

“No, of course not.” Yibo stand up now to face him.

“I have put up with this bullshit for 3 years. I have done everything you’ve wanted. He doesn’t have any bearing on anything I do for you or the company or the family. So, why bring him back and then invite him here? You don’t think you have me on a short enough leash? Something more you need to get me to do?”

“Stop talking.” Yibo whispers, walking to his side.

Ruohan doesn’t say anything, simply watching him with that neutral expression of his that Xiao Zhan was sure he had used with every business opponent or detractor who had stood in his way before. His father never reacted irrationally. He used other’s irrationality against them. And as his son, he should know better, but here he was, playing right into his hands.

“If you leave him alone, I’ll do anything. Honestly. I’ll stay here forever.” He says, suddenly realizing how futile playing games with his father is, especially as long as Yibo is with his reach. Which he now is, of course, now that he is back in China.

“Stop.” Yibo says again, this time a whisper, now close enough to slap a palm over his mouth.

“You leave. Quickly.” He looks down to whisper to Yibo under his palm, then pulls his hand down and looks back at his father.

Yibo too looks back at his father, although he asks, “Sorry, do you mind if I take him outside?” 

His father looks back at him, giving him a long look, before looking back at Yibo to nod.

“Come here.” Yibo says, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Then he looks around and then up at the corners of the ceiling as if expecting to see a camera. He looks back at Xiao Zhan and asks, “Where can we have some privacy?”

For a moment he just stares at Yibo as if trying to figure out where he has been hurt, but when he sees no such indication, at least physical, he drags him by the hand towards the staircase and then to his room.

Once they are inside, he locks the door and walks into the room before he turns to face Yibo. 

“Are you fucking stupid? Why did you come here alone to see him?”

Yibo ignores the first part of the question and answers, “Because he asked me to.”

“So you just obey?” his voice is comically high now. He needs to fucking calm down.

“Yea, sort of. He’s the big boss, after all.”

“No, you don’t! You fucking call me and tell me!”

“Oh yea, so that you can do the same shit that you did downstairs. Because that was so spectacularly brilliant!”

“He fucking caught me off-guard. The whole point of telling me ahead of time is so that I’m not caught off-guard!”

Yibo stares at him for a moment and then says, “How is this any of your business anyways? And didn’t you block me already? So, how the fuck do you get to tell me to call you for anything?”

“Fuck Yibo. Stop being petty for a second and listen…”

Yibo interrupts now, waving his hand, “Petty? _Petty_? _You_ fucking have the nerve to call _me_ petty? You are most petty asshole I’ve ever met in my fucking life!”

That pisses him off so much that he starts walking closer to Yibo, although Yibo just puts his hand up. “Do not even fucking think about coming near me!” 

He stops, falling quiet. 

After a moment, when he still doesn’t speak, Yibo turns around to walk to the door. He briefly thinks of stopping him, but then decides against it. He felt raw and any conversation that they are going to have now will only go straight to hell.

And Yibo is not one to look back. At least this time. He must have had enough.

When he sees his father later, they both pretend the whole thing didn’t happen. He is thankful. It was not a moment he was proud of and he is hardly inclined to repeat the experience even in his memory or through some sort of reminder of it from his father.

A week later, UNIQ is in Hong Kong for their concert. And he is in Brooklyn, NY, taking stock of the luxurious loft that his father now officially owned. He didn’t know much about Dumbo, but the neighborhood was swanky with waterfront views and a somewhat insane view of the Manhattan Bridge. Which of course it was, because Dumbo, it turns out, literally is an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. 

The loft is spacious, high ceilings, wide open space, three bedrooms, enormous windows on one side opening to the East River, with a view of the Manhattan skyline. It’s a duplex and there’s a private terrace that makes him a bit jealous of whoever is going to live here. He wonders if this is his father’s way of luring over some high-powered talent from another company. As far as perks, a luxury waterfront loft in Dumbo would probably sway him. 

He doesn’t come to New York that often, but within the past year, his father had already sent him three times, including his trip. 

He likes the loft so much that he returns each evening that he has left in Brooklyn to hang out on its terrace for a few hours, reading, or watching videos of the boys that Haikuan keeps him supplied with the whole time. They are mostly focused on Yibo, obviously, and he is silently thankful that Yibo is so used to being recorded all the time that he doesn’t seem to really notice when this particular camera’s focus in on him. 

The fifth day, Haikuan tells him that Yibo is in the hospital. Dehydration, exhaustion, GI issues acting up, etc. He had fainted after that night’s event, fortunately the last night of events, and they are keeping him overnight, really just to get him to rest. But he is okay. No need to worry. Blah blah.

Realistically he knows that Haikuan is right. Yibo is not even the only one. During their last concert in Japan, Wenhan had been pretty violently sick towards the end. They recovered with rest. Not the end of the world.

It didn’t matter though. Two hours later found him on a nonstop and an interminable 16+ hours later, he touches down in Hong Kong International. By the time he gets to the hotel where they boys are staying at, Yibo is already back from the hospital. 

He had not told Haikuan that he was coming, somehow that had slipped his mind entirely until he is in the lobby of the hotel and texts him to figure out which floor they are in. 

_Don’t tell me you’re here!_ Haikuan texts.

 _Okay, I won’t_. He replies.

 _Eleventh floor_. He texts back.

There are no rooms left on the eleventh floor. He suspects there is, but the whole floor is reserved under Wen Entertainment, so…

He books himself a room on the 9th floor because the boys are not due to return home for another two days. He will have to deal with the fallout when his father hears of this, but really, the meetings that he had rescheduled were not all that urgent, and he would handle them to his father’s satisfaction either way. 

_Is he alone in his room?_ He texts Haikuan once he is checked in.

_Yes._

He jumps in the shower to get rid of the residue of the past 24 hours of stale air and travel. And wonders if Yibo will actually even let him into the room as he walks there. The last time they had met, he had seemed pretty content with staying pissed off and one international travel is hardly going to fix that problem. He tells himself to fight all his regular impulses and play nice as he rings the doorbell. _Don’t be a petty asshole_ is the mantra of the hour.

It takes a few minutes and some shuffling around before the door opens. 

For a moment, Yibo just stares. 

He stares some more and then some more until Xiao Zhan asks, “Can I come in?”

And finally Yibo shakes his head and says, “fuck you” before starting to close the door.

 _Playing nice_ skids down the hallway with not so much a good-bye as he pushes the door open. Yibo doesn’t look surprised at this move, although maybe because he doesn’t have the energy to be surprised. 

He grabs Yibo back to him and hugs him from behind and thinks Yibo will fight him. He must really have no energy because he stands still, not doing anything. If he thinks that will make him let go, he has another thing coming. And so he takes advantage of Yibo’s inertia to properly hold him and breathe him in. He smells like disinfectant and something that is distinctly hospital-ish. For a moment, his mind flashes back to Jin Su with a bloody gown being wheeled out of her maternity room and closes his eyes to hug Yibo tighter.

“You smell like shit.” He says into Yibo’s neck.

“It’s like I knew you were coming.” Yibo answers.

That makes him smile and it must be feeling his lips move against his neck that makes Yibo try to pull his arms off from around him.

“Can’t I just hold you a little longer?” he asks, not letting go.

“15 more seconds.” Yibo relents, his hands falling off. There’s still the hospital’s wristband around his hand and Xiao Zhan brings Yibo’s wrist up to drop a kiss next to the band.

“Should I take this off for you?” he asks.

“Hmm… yes.” 

Just when he manages to get the wristband off, Yibo says, “Time’s up” and moves forward to his bed. He is visibly slow in walking, which alarms him enough that he takes off his shoes and gets on the bed before Yibo even gets there.

“What are you doing?” Yibo asks, standing beside the bed without getting on.

“I’m just going to lie down with you. I know there is a huge row that you want to have with me. Maybe not talk to me for a while too. I would really like it if we can postpone it till you’re better?”

For a moment, it looks like Yibo might argue, but then he sighs and gets on the bed, lying down turned away from him.

“Can I hold you?” he asks after a while.

Yibo doesn’t answer. He is not sleeping, Xiao Zhan can tell from his breathing.

He takes it as permission to edge closer and slip his arm over Yibo’s waist and scoot closer.

Yibo sighs once more and closes his eyes, although he doesn’t resist.

xxxxxx


	40. Permanent Solution

“The summer that I maybe 8, Wen Xu came home with a friend of his. Brought him home for the summer. Wen Xu used to do that sometimes. He made friends quickly, lost them pretty quickly too. But this guy, he and Wen Xu seemed to get on quite well. He was a little asshole though. Could get Wen Xu to do pretty much anything he wanted, which that particular summer was to get him to show if I actually had boy parts under my dresses. You remember this story?” 

Yibo nods. “You sort of orchestrated your father to catch Wen Xu in the act and he ended up whipping him with the belt?”

Xiao Zhan nods. “Wen Xu got whipped, but I never saw that boy again. He sort of disappeared from the mansion overnight. I thought he just went back home. I mean, he saw my dad whipping a fully-grown 21-year old with a belt. That had to make you think maybe this wasn’t the place to stick around for a whole summer.”

Xiao Zhan pauses and Yibo waits. “I didn’t know that my dad had somehow figured out that the other boy was somehow involved in the whole thing. I mean, I could see how he could instigate Wen Xu, but it’s also because I was tuned into assholes like that. I knew how to read their tells. But my dad was barely around. There was no way that he knew. Or so I thought.”

“What happened?” Yibo asks now when Xiao Zhan pauses again.

“I didn’t find out until a year later, but someone tried to run him over with a car and left him paralyzed from the waist down.”

Yibo turns back more fully, his eyes widening. “You think it was your dad?”

“I _know_ it was my dad. It turns out it had happened within weeks of him leaving the mansion that summer. There are legit no coincidences when my dad is involved in a situation.” 

“You really think he would murder someone?” 

“Oh, if he had wanted him dead, he would be dead. No, he just wanted him to physically suffer and still be alive.”

“Fuck…” Yibo’s voice is a whisper.

Xiao Zhan hugs him tighter, forcing him to turn his head back around. “Now see why I told you to not go see my dad by yourself? You don’t even know the type of man you’re dealing with.”

“Someone who is very protective of his son, it seems like.” Yibo says, turning his head back once more.

Xiao Zhan sighs. “Yes, I know it seems that way. But really, it has little to do with me, the person. It’s more like someone dared to come into his home and attack something that belongs to him. And implicate his other son in it too. That requires payback of the highest magnitude. That’s the sort of man he is.”

“Is that why you try so hard to protect me from him? Because you think he’s going to make me a paraplegic?”

“Yibo, when it comes to his things and someone trying to take it away or damage it, you don’t know how he can react.” 

“But I’m not trying to take you away or damage you.” Yibo says so earnestly that Xiao Zhan drops a kiss against his temple.

“What do you know? You stole me away a long time ago. Only the body remains there.”

That gets one of Yibo’s classic stares, although this is so mixed with so many emotions that Xiao Zhan can’t even tease them all apart.

“What?” he asks. “Even if I never say anything or especially when I say the wrong thing, I always thought you could read me like a book.”

Yibo’s eyes flicker.

“That’s why it hurt so badly when you came to your dad’s house with Jackson. It’s hard enough to deny you when it’s all I have wanted for what seems now like forever. But I had made peace with the fact that you had moved on. Seeing you happy honestly makes me happy. And Jackson was very good at making you happy. But to rub it in my face, that hurt. And to do it there; it was like I suddenly realized that it was not my place at all, but your place that I had sort of borrowed without permission. It was like losing you and your dad all at once. I don’t really do all that well with devastation. I don’t react with sadness. I just grind it down and close it off and move on.”

“If I was really dating Jackson, that’s what you would have done?” Yibo asks.

He thinks of lying, but what’s the point. 

And so he nods. “It’s a lifelong habit, Yibo. It’s likely served me well with people and feelings and relationships in the past. Or it’s just how I’m wired.”

Yibo nods back, which makes him lean closer to ask, “Does that make you think of me differently?” 

Yibo snorts. “How is this a surprise? You’ve only ever been this way. I would have to wonder if someone gave you a lobotomy if you did something different.”

He sighs against Yibo’s neck. 

“You acting like a dick was not what I was upset about.” 

“Then?” 

“It was that you ate almost that whole lunch with us and still couldn’t figure out that I wasn’t with him. Or that you would think that I would actually show up there, at my dad’s house where he looks forward to your visits so much, that I would actually come there with someone else if I was actually with him. That you thought I could be so heartless. I couldn’t get over that. It’s like you didn’t know me at all.”

He breathes in Yibo’s smell, now more his essence than the hospital – although that could be his brain playing tricks on him – and says, “I’m sorry.”

They don’t speak for a while after that. When he is on pins and needles from the tension, he asks, “Are you still mad?”

“Yes.” Yibo answers.

“Does it make you love me any less?” 

“It should.” Yibo sighs.

“It should, it should.” He agrees. “But I’m glad it doesn’t.” he kisses Yibo’s nape, for the moment, content.

“How can I love you any less after that stupid _stupid_ shit that you pulled in front of your father?”

Xiao Zhan closes his eyes and whispers, “Fuck, don’t remind me.”

“And that too, just after that man had told me that he would literally come for all my shit - not in so many words, but I got the gist of it - if I ever hurt you.”

“Come again?” he asks, pausing in kissing Yibo’s neck again.

“Oh yea, even said – smiling, mind you – that he knew where my father lived, seeing as how you’ve been visiting him regularly all this time. I have to say, he is quite good at making threats seem entirely ambiguous. Like you are seriously having this conversation, confused as shit about whether he is joking or about to literally erase you from existence.”

“No…”

“Oh yeah. He’s definitely very _very_ protective of you. I think in his own weird way, he loves you quite a lot.”

“Don’t be fooled by his words and actions. It’s all about power for him.”

“Yea, but I think he thinks you’re that.”

“What?”

“His power. _You_ are his power.”

“Yea, because I’m the smartest workhorse he’s got.”

“Yes, maybe that’s part of it. But who wouldn’t appreciate those qualities? What is he supposed to do? Hate you because you’re intelligent and hardworking and occasionally bends the rules for benefitting his empire?”

“No, he is supposed to love me because I’m his son.”

“But that’s easy. He did that with Wen Xu. You’re the one he loves and respects because of the person that you are, not just because you’ve half his DNA.”

He turns Yibo around now in his arms so that they are facing each other.

“You’re seriously defending Wen Ruohan? The man who threatened your father?”

Yibo smiles. “I actually think he threatened my father because he is jealous.”

“Of what?”

“What do you mean, of what?” You travel four and half hours each way on a single day journey to just eat some soup with my dad. Come on, if I was your father, I would literally _die_ from jealousy.”

“You give him way too much credit. He really doesn’t care about such things. But I can see that he has hoodwinked you into believing that he does. Part of his voodoo. My dad is the best with using the least. You know what his motto is? True power comes when people do what you want them to do simply because you look at them. And see what he did that day? Just because I saw the two of you together in that room, I gave my entire fucking game away in 20 seconds flat.”

“More like 10 seconds.” Yibo interrupts.

“Yes, asshole. 10 seconds was all it took for me to promise indentured servitude for a lifetime to save your ungrateful behind.”

“But I don’t want to be saved.” Yibo says.

“Oh yea?” he asks, raising an eyebrow, leaning forward for a kiss.

But Yibo covers his mouth and pushes him back a bit, saying, “Neither does he.”

“Then what does he want?” he asks, pulling down Yibo’s hand.

“He just wanted to make sure that I deserved all your _devotion_. His words, not mine.”

“He said “Devotion”?” 

“Uh huh. His exact words were, “Keeping you away from him has not done the trick for three years. And I think at this point, you are a liability. Anyone could kidnap you and he would be a basket-case. Would sign over his entire life.”

Xiao Zhan laughs. “He didn’t say that.”

“Oh yea, he did. He says that as soon as you inherit, everyone you care about becomes fair game for all those who don’t mean you well. And he is of the opinion that since you seem to be suffering from the malady known as “undying devotion” to me – little ol’ me – he wants my opinion on a more permanent solution.”

“What permanent solution?” he is quite legitimately lost now.

“Xiao Zhan, your father wants to know if I love you enough to marry you. That’s why he wanted to talk to me.”

“What the fuck?” he asks, leaning back completely and then sitting up.

“Oh yes, he is aware that I am an idol, that this may affect my reputation and that of the group. But knowing all that, he wants to know if I would still want to marry you.”

He swallows hard as his limbs start to feel a little numb. His father does not like getting No for an answer.

“Did you have time to give him an answer?”

Yibo nods.

Xiao Zhan grabs him now and pulls him so that he has no option but to sit up.

“Please tell me you said… fuck what can you really say? You can’t say yes. And you can’t say no. What did you say? No, don’t tell me. Let me think. Either answer, we can fix it, okay? We will fix it. Don’t worry about it. I can fix it.”

“I don’t need you to fix it because I already said yes.”

xxxxxxx


	41. Advantages

His eyes find Yibo’s and they try to… do something… he is not sure. He is not sure his eyes are actually doing any justice to all the things flickering to life inside his head and his chest. Emotions that are entirely out of practice surface from somewhere deep under like the Loch Ness Monster, a chimera that was not entirely certain of its existence, but then, there it is.

But even Yibo, the fountain of empathy that he is, plugged in like a life force since the first moment they met, the connection never breaking even through so much separation, even he can only understand so much without words.

And so he grabs Yibo to him, slipping his arms around his waist and laying his head on Yibo’s shoulder, mouth turned against his ear.

“I will never deny you again. Never stay away from you. I will give you all the love that has been in my heart all these years. I will come see you whenever you want, wherever you want, however you want. In secret or in the light. I will do anything you want…” He pauses then and hugs Yibo a bit tighter before he whispers, “You don’t have to marry me for that. It’s all yours anyways.”

He holds himself still as he waits, seeking solace in Yibo’s skin, the light pulse along the side of his neck… fluttering now. On their own, his lips move to kiss it. To calm it. To show it that he’ll be here no matter what.

A moment later, Yibo’s arms go around him too, his mouth turning to his ear to ask, “You don’t want to marry me?”

Xiao Zhan closes his eyes and when he speaks, he doesn’t know if his throat is fighting a nervous laugh or a tickle, but the words force its way out anyway. “More than anything…”

“Then?” Yibo asks, pulling back.

“Yibo, marrying me, into my family… it’s not a simple thing. It’ll make your life a lot more complicated.”

“How? I mean, aside from all the complications that your father inferred to?”

“And what did my father infer to?”

Yibo thinks about that for a moment before he answers. “I think there’s only so many options you have when you’re like him, in his position, with the wife he has, the children he has, the grandchildren he has. I have no unrealistic expectations of how it will be. If I am in the fold, I can expect any or all of the following. I will likely be tailed all the time. He will manipulate any situation to protect you, as far as he is able to. Most times without you even knowing. Someone could have an axe to grind with you and seeing as how I’m your number one weakness, you know… Just like he said… liability and all…” he lets that trail off, smiling.

Xiao Zhan doesn’t smile back, but says, “I don’t think you would mind any of that. If you could have that entire conversation with my dad and be unruffled enough to not tell me about it all this time – especially still staying mad at me and refusing to talk to me even though you had basically already agreed to marry me - then I think you would be able to see through at least some of his attempts to manipulate you. You’re calmer by nature than me, less reactive, less vengeful, just altogether more emotionally sound, baby, that none of the regular shit that should scare you about my family would be an issue. It’s none of those things that would be the problem.”

“Then?” Now, Yibo looks genuinely confused.

“It’s me. I think I’m more like him than you think. And like you said, a man in his position, there are just certain things that come with it. The need to control situations, people, things. The need to exercise power. The need to make choices that may seem inhumane because it’s always looking at the big picture and not at just the details. The need to make an example of certain things, just because you have to…”

Yibo looks at him for a long moment and then asks, “You’re not sorry that that boy is paralyzed, are you?”

Xiao Zhan sighs and shakes his head. “I would do the same thing if someone did something to my niece or nephew. Besides, I know bad eggs when I see them. And that one… definitely not a good one.”

“And so you would play God?”

“Not God, because sometimes God likes to take his time. I’m more of a… _If you hurt someone I love, watch your back for the rest of your life_ sort of person.”

Yibo listens now, but says nothing else.

“I hate him so much sometimes because I can see that despite however much I want it to be otherwise, I’m a lot like him. My instincts, my reflexes, my judgments, more often than not, they are exactly like his. I’m afraid you would be poisoned if you stay with me too long without being able to leave at will. And when you finally want to leave, I probably won’t even let you. I don’t mean that romantically. I’m so possessive, Yibo. Once I have you, I won’t be able to let go.”

“Oh, I think you would.” Yibo says. 

He shakes his head.

“Xiao Zhan, you know what you are more than possessive? Prideful. You would rather cut your heart out and bleed to death rather than admit that you want someone more than they want you. Even now, you are this open with me only after knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that I love you to the moon and back. And if you ever got the sense that I didn’t want you anymore, you would leave me before I could leave you. So… if you’re afraid that you will suck me in and swallow me whole, despite your best intentions, you’re simply not built that way."

“Are you sure?” he asks, knowing that he is willing to take Yibo’s word for it. For this. He needs the assurance that Yibo still has an out if he ever wanted to one. Even if he himself was the one standing in the way.

Yibo nods. 

Still he has other things that he worries about.

“And what if I try to manipulate you?”

“Then you will try.” Yibo says.

Xiao Zhan’s face falls and he presses the heels of his palms into his eyes. “That won’t do.” He murmurs.

“Just warn me that you’re about to do it, okay?” Yibo asks with a smile, pulling Xiao Zhan’s hands away.

Xiao Zhan looks at Yibo’s smiling face and grabs his hands to pull him back into an embrace.

“Oh, why don’t you understand? If I kill your spirit, I would rather die.”

“Let me decide then if I want to take that risk or not? Hmm? You respect me enough to let me make my own choice, right? Think I’m smart enough to know who I love underneath the pretty face, lovely eyes, long legs, and luscious ass?”

That makes him laugh. “I don’t know. I think you are totally blinded by my looks that you’re forgetting all the evil shit.”

Yibo slips a hand under the back of his shirt and he feels the warmth of Yibo’s palm when he says, “I don’t know, I think I like some of your evil shit. Hell, I even like some of your petty shit, and that’s saying something. But that look you gave me in the office as if I was just… _erased_ … fuck, I can’t even tell you what that day was like.”

“MianMian said she saw your face and felt like she had killed a bunny. She held it against me for weeks. Even now, I don’t think I’m fully forgiven.”

“See…” Yibo’s palm now climbs higher on his back and what was before a soothing gesture is now… hmm… he missed this. 

“I’m a master at turning everyone around you against you when you hurt me… how do you only give yourself credit for having the upper hand in this relationship?” Yibo asks.

“That’s true!” Xiao Zhan says, pulling back, his eyes now wide with genuine delight. “What else?” he asks.

“What else what?” Yibo asks.

“What else are the advantages that you have over me? Tell me, tell me.”

“You mother adores me.” 

“Yes! Yes, she does. Although she also told me that you were dating Jackson when I’m sure that she knew you were not. I haven’t squared that away with her yet.”

“She didn’t know any different, no mattered what she had figured out. I think she wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt, that I knew what I was doing rather than simply egg you on with her thoughts on the subject.”

“And what were you doing?” Xiao Zhan asks now.

“Making it easier on you to move on.” Yibo says now, tilting his head. “My feelings, at some point, seemed a burden to you. I just thought that if you thought I had moved on, you would worry less. And it would also make your dad worry less about the matter too. You know, if I was no longer a threat to you romantically and all.”

“Well, clearly it didn’t work with my father!” he says with some feeling.

“Yes! That should tell you something. Your father and mother weren’t fooled, but you were!”

That makes him grab Yibo and push him down on the bed, climbing on top of him to lean over until their faces are inches apart. “I was a little blinded by jealousy, okay?”

“No, you really just liked knowing that I could be happy without you.” 

“Wasn’t Jackson upset when he found out? When did you tell him?”

Yibo smiles. “That night at the rooftop bar, before I came to see you. I think he had sort of already guessed by that point. I must have stared at you too long at some point at the karaoke bar. But at the hotel bar, when you left and then I wanted to come after you, he said something like, _I’ve seen that look before, Yibo. I have one of those myself. They just make us pine and pine and love us in a way that won’t let us move on. But they won’t give anymore either and we end up in this permanent limbo_.”

“He did?” he asks, eyes wide.

“Hmm… I think he’s been in love with Jinyoung for years. Years. It’s sort of sad, really, because I’ve met Jinyoung so many times and even when it’s clear that he is dying of jealousy, he just won’t do anything to really claim Jackson once and for all… So, they’re both in this state…”

“And now?” he asks. He has to know.

“And now?” Yibo laughs. “You think I would have the nerve to tell your dad that I’m ready to marry you if I haven’t called it “quits” with Jackson?”

He laughs too. “Yea, he would likely castrate you.”

“And you like my dick. We can’t have that.”

“I love your dick. We definitely can’t have that.”

Said dick twitches a bit, which makes Xiao Zhan close his eyes and grind down on it… just a little bit… but he stops when Yibo groans. “I literally just took off your hospital wristband. Even your big dick energy will have to wait until later, less volatile times. We still have a lot to discuss.”

“Then stop rubbing up against me…” Yibo says, holding his hips still.

“Fuck, sorry.” He says, getting off and lying down next to Yibo once more.

This time it’s Yibo who hugs him close, but taking care to keep his hips turned upright still to allow his erection to flag. It makes for a bit of awkward holding, but they manage, unwilling to pull out of the hold.

“In reality, your father’s talk had nothing to do with it. Even though Jinyoung won’t do anything about it, it was hurting him too much to see Jackson with me. And torturing the ones we love was not the intention of the fake relationship. So, Jackson himself called it quits some time back. But we like to hang out, we genuinely enjoy each other’s company, so nothing in our relationship changed. So unless we specifically told people that we were not together, they sort of assumed. But then again, we had also never come out and told people we were together, that was also assumption. So… you know… it is what you perceive it to be, I guess. But Jackson had to specifically tell Jinyoung that we were not together. That guy is so fucking blind to all manner of things when it comes to Jackson. The whole trip with Jackson coming with me that weekend when you came to my dad’s house was to see how better I fared with my own blind asshole.”

“And what was the verdict?” he asks.

Yibo smiles, although it’s a sad smile.

“I think he almost cried.”

“Why?”

“He said he doesn’t think Jinyoung will ever react the way you did.”

“You mean, like a mean asshole.”

“No, so hurt that you weren’t even able to hide it.”

“Well, Jinyoung is missing out.” He says after a while, feeling a sort of kinship with Jackson.

“I know, that’s what I try to tell Jackson. I don’t think it makes him feel any better though. And it’s not even like he can make a clean break. They’re in the same band together, what is he going to do?”

“Hmm…”

They are quiet for a while, until Xiao Zhan remembers, “Hey, you didn’t tell me what else.”

“Tell you what?”

“Other advantages you have over me?”

Now Yibo smiles. “You know you’re cute, right?”

“I said advantages that you have over me. Not those I have over you!”

“In what world are you cuter than me?” Yibo asks, properly offended for the first time. “I have literally made a career out of being cute but pretending I’m cool. That’s my whole MO.”

“Fine. You’re cuter. Let’s get back to the matter at hand.”

“Advantages? Hmm… Don’t hate me for saying this, but I think I can manage your dad better than you can. Ergo, by your own hypothesis of _like dad, like son_ , I can manage you better than you think I can.”

Xiao Zhan contemplates that and then nods, “I see that learning mathematical proofs has improved your knack for argument.”

“Indeed.” Yibo agrees, nodding.

“Secondly, and don’t discount this, but seriously, I’m marrying into a boatload of money. Even if I take none of it for personal use, per se, I’m certainly going to benefit from it, so let’s not ignore that.”

“Yup yup, the obvious advantage. Money does buy some nice vacations.”

“And privacy. That amount of money can buy privacy.”

“Okay. Okay, what else?” 

“I’m going to definitely up the beauty quotient of the Wen family.”

Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes. “We need no help with that. We are married to the Jins and my sister-in-law has given birth to the best looking of any species to ever exist.”

“True.” Yibo concedes readily. “By the way, I think Xiao Lu has a bit of a crush on me.”

“ _A bit_? She is head over heels. Might even fight me for you.”

Yibo smiles a wide smile. “I literally thought your dad would throw his coffee cup at me that day.”

“I did too.” Xiao Zhan agrees. And they both shake their heads at the memory.

“Haikuan told me to make a few mini you’s.” he adds now, remembering.

“Wait, how does Haikuan know about the whole marriage thing?”

“Oh he doesn’t. He is our number one supporter though. He is the one who told me that you and Jackson are not a real thing.”

“Wait, you didn’t figure it out on your own?” Yibo asks, moving away now.

Xiao Zhan closes his eyes and hides a sheepish smile. “Remember, you love your blind asshole.”

“Yea, lucky you are for facts.”

“Yes, yes.” Xiao Zhan agrees.

Yibo is willing to let it go though as he thinks of something else. “Another advantage I have over you. My dad. You’re silly putty in his hands.” 

“True.” He affirms quietly. 

“You know, I really thought you would stop visiting him after that day at the airport. I cut you off so fully after that that I thought that was it, you would stop going to see him too. And I was sad about that. Because he so looks forward to your visits.”

“How I feel about your dad has not much to do with you. At least not anymore.” 

“I know… And I think that must have been when I really fell for you… When two months after that day at the airport, he called me to say that you were coming again. I literally thought my chest would cave in with how much I loved you in that moment. And then it was just a matter of time, you know… all I would need is one too many drinks or a vulnerable moment to call you again, drag you back into whatever was going on between us that you were trying to leave behind so earnestly. And I didn’t want to do that to you anymore. I see what that does to Jackson, and I didn’t want to do that to you, for something that made you worry, that made you anxious, that made you weak. So, while I knew I couldn’t move on from you, at least I could give you that illusion and allow you to move on in your own way.”

He pulls Yibo back and kisses him, a soft press against his lips. “You think after than train ride, I could ever move on from you? I remember every moment of that day, have thought of that day every day since then…”

“Me too…” Yibo says now, a whisper, adding, “even if you broke my heart at the end.”

“I’m sorry.” He brings Yibo’s hand up for another kiss to his wrist and lingers, willing his sincerity to seep through the pulse there.

“You know what my best advantage is though?” Yibo asks now, watching.

“Hmm?” he murmurs.

“That you love me enough to make sure that you take as many safeguards as possible to protect me from the future you, in the event you turn out to be the worst iteration of how imagine you could be.”

“Occupational hazard of being a chaebol. Asshole Potential is a mandatory criterion.”

Yibo laughs and says the same line that he had used on him that first time he had come to the mansion, what now seems ages ago. “You’re lucky I happen to like assholes.”

Xiao Zhan smiles at that, but a moment later, as if the entire conversation just properly registered, bursts out, “Are we seriously doing this? Marriage? What will your brothers say? Are you even openly gay? My God Yibo, I don’t think…”

Yibo covers his mouth and pulls him closer. “We only have to do this if you want to. Anyways, your father has said basically that the whole thing will be a no-go if I don’t get my degree in a year.”

“What the fuck?” 

“Oh, he said it much more nicely. I think it was something like, “ _There’s no rush of course, I know you have a lot going on for the next year, completing University and all, so… Besides, weddings take time to plan, especially because we’ll have to do it somewhere else. I was thinking New York. Seems progressive enough. You can think about that and let me know if you have other places that I should consider.”_

“So much bullshit!” Xiao Zhan bursts out laughing.

“No, for real. Okay, so maybe that’s not verbatim, but it basically went something like that. He definitely has looked into New York. Even said that there are a lot of neighborhoods in New York City where people can live much more openly."

Xiao Zhan’s eyebrows scrunch up. DUMBO was starting to look awfully suspicious now.

“What did you say?”

“What could I say? It’s like he had pretty much known that I would say _yes_ and was just waiting to see the time frame for his next course of action.”

“Wang Yibo! You can’t let someone do that to you! This is your wedding, not his. You are an idol. You have no obligation to live anywhere but where you want to. Forget progressive cities and nice neighborhoods and tall lofts with terraces overlooking the water!”

“Huh?” Yibo asks.

“The point is, you draw the line at the proposal. Asking you whether you’re interested in marrying me? Fair enough. Everything else? Out of line! You go back and tell him you’ll do shit in your own time.”

“You tell him.” Yibo says. “He’s your father.”

“Yea, but he asked _you_.”

“And _I_ answered him. Now it’s your turn.”

“Who’s going to tell your father then?” he asks. 

“My father? Me, of course. He’s my father!” Yibo says that as if it’s a given.

“Does he even know that you’re gay?” he thinks it prudent to ask.

“I’m sure he has heard rumors about Jackson.”

“But it’s not a conversation that you’ve had with him.”

“No, I did not sit my father down and tell him, _Dad I’m gay. And I have the most insane sex with that pretty dude who comes to visit you every two months. Oh yea, that guy. Yup, I rock his world_.”

“And he rocks yours.”

“Goes without saying.” 

“Does it though?”

That gets him pulled closer and a gruff whisper. “I say all manner of filthy things to you. It’s not clear yet that I adore every part of your incredible body? And dream of biting and licking it head to toe and back?”

He looks at Yibo, notices that his pupils are all blown out, and asks, “You feel up for a shower?”

Yibo shakes his head. 

Xiao Zhan puts his head down on the pillow and closes his eyes. Damn, but he is leaving here today with the worst blue balls known to mankind. 

“But I’m down for a bath.” Yibo whispers now. When he opens his eyes, they both look down to watch Yibo unzip his jeans to take out his cock. Then Yibo does the same to himself, although this simply requires lowering his pajama bottoms down a bit. Then he takes his hand back.

They watch their dicks get hard simply from the anticipation. 

“Fuck baby, you sure you’re up for this?” Xiao Zhan says when he thinks he is at the point of salivating, watching Yibo’s cock start to leak precum.

“For a bath? Definitely. There’s a fucking jacuzzi in this place. And finally, I get to take advantage of it.” Yibo says, getting up from the bed and walking to the bathroom, pajama bottom still on, rucked up under his hard dick bobbing in the front.

“Lord have mercy…” Xiao Zhan palms himself and tells his dick to cooperate so that the show doesn’t end before it even starts. 

_And fuck, can someone remember lube???_

“I’m a little worried about your electrolytes.” He calls out.

“Then come here and let me suck off some of yours.” Yibo calls out from the bathroom where Xiao Zhan hears the water running. 

xxxxxxx


	42. Yin & Yang

Xiao Zhan sniffs his hair and scrunches up his nose. “This is some ripe scalp. Can I shampoo it for you?” 

He nods, pulling the slight waist closer to him, and Xiao Zhan’s eyes close at the drag as their dicks rub together. They’re sort of floppy now, sated for the moment.

He closes his eyes as Xiao Zhan’s fingers dig into his scalp, firm as if it knew just where and how to do what to get him to sink into the tub, his muscles turning to butter. 

“Tilt your head back a little.” He hears and opens his eyes to find Xiao Zhan’s face close, close enough that if he sticks his tongue out, he could lick that mole. He doesn’t though. Instead, he stares at it and tips his head back as he has been told. Xiao Zhan is careful to not get the water in his eyes as he washes off the shampoo. And then his fingers are back, now massaging the conditioner on.

“How are you so good at this?” he asks. 

Xiao Zhan looks down with a smile, “I am?”

“Hmm…. I am strangely relaxed and aroused at the same time.” And sure enough, his dick is hard against Xiao Zhan’s belly even though it had emptied itself barely an hour ago when Xiao Zhan had come into the bathroom and backed him against the wall by the mirror to drop down to his knees and take him into his mouth. 

“Fuck, fuck… no… yes…” he had murmured, wanting to do it first, but Xiao Zhan hadn’t budged, sucking him off as if it was the only thing to stave off hunger. But Xiao Zhan was definitely not a pro at deep throating and his attempt to do so had resulted in a violent coughing fit that had literally made them both drop down to the gleaming tiles, clutching their bellies.

“Okay, I’ll have to work on that…” Xiao Zhan had murmured once they had quieted down and he had finished off the matter with an incredible hand-job. Although, hell, any kind of job would have been incredible at that point given how hard he had been. But it had been Xiao Zhan’s hand. Xiao Zhan’s smell. Xiao Zhan’s lips over his, Xiao Zhan’s tongue in his mouth, Xiao Zhan’s breaths against his ear, and he had come with such force that there had been quite a mess on the pristine bathroom floor. 

“Fuck, I love watching you come.” Xiao Zhan had whispered, his breaths coming in pants and Yibo had tried to catch his own breath as he watched Xiao Zhan’s eyes close and his lips bite down on his lower lip as he took himself in hand to jerk off quickly. 

“Wait, I want to do that.” He had whispered, although he was so out of breath that he had had to put his head back down.

“You have a lifetime to do that. Today, I’ll take care of you.”

“Oh yea?” he had asked, smiling, keeping his eyes closed.

“Hmm…” Had been all Xiao Zhan had said before he groaned and twisted to bury his head into the crook of his elbow.

Yibo had opened his eyes to look down then, had seen that bent head, and his smile had disappeared. And he had grabbed Xiao Zhan up and into his arms to kiss him, open-mouthed, all tongue and teeth. When he pulled back, Xiao Zhan’s lips were a bruised red and his eyes had become limpid pools of need. Not just dick need, but love need. He had never seen those eyes as vulnerable before. And he wanted them to look at him like that all the time. Turn to him and melt into a puddle because he couldn’t live without him. 

Xiao Zhan had closed his eyes and dragged Yibo down into his arms, holding on tightly, whispering, “I don’t know how to be this… happy.”

They had stayed that way for a long while, content to just be wrapped up in each other’s arms, even if it was on a hotel bathroom floor.

When Xiao Zhan had finally made a move toward the jacuzzi, Yibo had gone back into the bedroom under the pretense of grabbing an extra towel. He wanted to see Xiao Zhan writhe out of control before he showed him what he had.

And now, he feels the fingers knead the last of the knots and lethargy out of his scalp and feels more energized than he had in ages. Without warning, he ducks under the water and licks a nipple that is just under the surface.

There is a gasp and the fingers on his head still, and it’s all the encouragement he needs before he laves the nipple with his tongue. 

He feels the stillness in Xiao Zhan’s body as he tries to hold still for the ministrations, but Yibo can feel it, the slight tremors running along his back and waist and he runs his large hands over all that glorious skin, wet and firm. He uses the distraction to reach into one of the folded towels sitting next to the tub to grab the tube of miracles.

In his distraction, he goes from just licking the nipple to sucking on it, the pebbled nub against his tongue straightening his cock to full attention. 

“Fuck…” Xiao Zhan whispers before pulling Yibo’s face away from the nipple. He hugs him tightly as he asks, “I’m going to die, Yibo. Can we try without the lube? Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

“Really?” he asks, looking up. This is the man with the self-proclaimed aversion to pain. 

Xiao Zhan nods.

“It’s going to hurt like hell.”

And he sees that there are tears of sheer frustration leaking out of the corners of Xiao Zhan’s eyes and he mutters, “Freud had it all wrong. If girls are supposed to have penis envy, boys definitely have self-lubrication envy.”

Yibo can’t help but smile at this and kisses those tears at the corner of Xiao Zhan’s eyes as his hands slide down the long line of his back and grabs at those ass cheeks.

He can feel Xiao Zhan tense up at the last moment when he feels his finger at the entrance. Yibo pauses. After a moment, Xiao Zhan arches his back slightly, opening up a bit more, encouraging him to continue.

He slides a finger in and can almost feel the moment when Xiao Zhan’s eyes snap open, even though he can’t see them with how Xiao Zhan is pressed up against him.

“ _You have lube_?”

“Surprise.” He whispers just as he crooks his finger up more in the way he remembered from a long time ago.

There is a long moan now and Xiao Zhan grabs onto his head to clutch him close as he whispers, “Oh fuck, I love your fingers.”

Xiao Zhan is rocking against that finger easily enough that he slips another one in. Their dicks are both hard and rubbing together with all the movement and it drives him crazy enough that Yibo bends into Xiao Zhan’s throat to suck hard on the skin there. 

“You keep yourself ready to take my cock?” he asks later, once he has added a third finger. There’s only moaning as answer and Yibo licks a long stripe up from where there is bound to be a massive hickey. Unlike the care that Xiao Zhan has exercised in the past though, Yibo doesn’t care that he is marking him up. 

His cock is so hard that he thinks he might shoot off into the water before long, but before it can happen, Xiao Zhan pulls his fingers out and tries to sit on his cock all in one fluid move. Yibo thankfully has the forethought to quickly slap on some lube on his dick before that happens. 

Xiao Zhan is too gone to care and Yibo can feel those thighs tremble from the effort of holding up his entire body weight as he eases down slowly onto his cock. And then it’s he who is groaning as he grabs onto Xiao Zhan’s hips to keep him still. 

“Ride me.” Yibo says after a moment. 

And Xiao Zhan does. Because no matter how often Xiao Zhan fingers himself, cock is an entirely different matter. Especially his cock. It’s a slow pace at first, Xiao Zhan’s eyes closed, his moves deliberate, as if he is riding a mechanical cock. Yibo indulges. Because it’s hot. It’s like watching Xiao Zhan play with a toy, alone and on his own. 

After awhile though, Xiao Zhan opens his eyes and looks at him directly, seeming to know that he had been getting off on watching him. And Xiao Zhan starts riding him in earnest, not breaking eye contact. It makes Yibo feel all sorts of crazy that he grabs onto Xiao Zhan around his waist, his tiny fucking waist that drives him insane, and he starts snapping his hips up, now knowing exactly how to hit the spot. 

As soon as Yibo’s mouth is seeking that shoulder, Xiao Zhan knows that he is close and his fingers climb up Yibo’s nape to bring him closer, to give him better access. Yibo bites into the shoulder hard and Xiao Zhan comes, squirting out between their bodies. Yibo is right behind him, pumping into Xiao Zhan. 

“Fuck, I missed this…” Yibo says when he feels his head loll back, perspiration coating his temple. 

“Fuck me every day.” Xiao Zhan asks, carding his fingers through Yibo’s hair.

“If you let me, I can fuck you every chance I get.”

“Where? In the mansion?”

“Please, I would worry that I was being taped.”

“It’s just one camera and I know where it is.”

It takes them both a second for that to sink in and then Xiao Zhan turns those eyes on him, now shimmering with a different sort of glow.

“Fuck me in the west tearoom of the mansion.”

“Why? You want to make home porn?”

That just gets those eyes twinkling and then, “Damn, that means that I have to re-install the camera.”

Yibo pauses and thinks about this for a second as it becomes clear what they are discussing. “Wait, you’re the one who installed the camera?”

Xiao Zhan’s eyes turn just like that and he starts to climb off of Yibo’s lap. But Yibo holds him back. “I’m asking a question. It’s not a judgment.”

He can tell it takes Xiao Zhan some effort of will to stay put. Especially when Xiao Zhan says, his voice neutral, his gaze steady. “Yes, I installed a camera in the west-end tea room because I know that’s where my dad used to prefer to fuck busty maids who were into him. I saved the videos in the event he hangs me out to dry one day and I need something on him. I had a ton of shit on Wen Xu too, although obviously they’re all destroyed now.” Xiao Zhan seems to think he’s said enough and stops and waits, getting ready to be pushed off. Yibo can already feel Xiao Zhan’s hands, now cold where they rest lightly against his shoulder.

Yibo holds that gaze, long enough that the coldness in it leaves and the vulnerability is back.

“Say something.” Xiao Zhan finally whispers.

“Okay.” He replies.

“Okay what?” 

“Okay, put the camera back. I want to see what it looks like when I rail you in the tearoom.”

Xiao Zhan is not deterred.

“Don’t be glib, Yibo. Be honest. I can take it. You can still back out if you want. I honestly will not hold it against you.”

“Xiao Zhan, I grew up in the entertainment industry. I have not led a “normal” life in a long time. What do you want me to say? Hell, I paid for sex with you. That’s how we even met. So, no, I’m not being glib. I’m glad you are being honest with me. That’s all I ask. And I will give you my honest reactions. I’m not very good at hiding shit anyways. But it begs the question, though. Why did you uninstall the camera if it was intent on gathering blackmail material on your father?”

It takes several long moments before Xiao Zhan answers. “Jin Su and Wen Qing live there now. I don’t want them to feel like they live in Bentham’s Panopticon.”

“The what?”

Xiao Zhan sighs and lays his head against Yibo’s shoulder. “It’s a prison that Bentham designed where the inmates could be being watched at any time without them knowing. You know, the OG Big Brother.”

“Hmm…” he says, gently rubbing Xiao Zhan’s back in slow rhythmic circles. “Have you ever been a child?”

Xiao Zhan doesn’t lift his head, but asks, “What do you mean?”

“It just seems like… you’ve lived in this sort of pressure cooker since the beginning of time. Can you ever relax? Let go? Just enjoy things? Without waiting for the other shoe to drop?”

There is a sigh again and the answer is a long time in coming. “No. I don’t even think I would know what that feels like even if I felt it. And it would make me anxious. My brain has always been a chessboard. Thinking of the next seven or ten moves is so automatic to me it’s practically a subconscious process now. I would need brain damage to change that.”

“I don’t want to change you Zhan ge. I just want to understand you better. So, I can be this for you all the time…”

“What? My Maserati?”

That makes the corner of his mouth quirk up. “If you’re going for horsepower, why don’t we up it to a Lotus Evija?”

“Want me to buy you one?”

“No, I don’t want you to buy me one. Don’t distract me with toys.”

There’s that sigh again. “I love that you’re my rock. That you’re willing to be. But I want it to be more equal. I want to know that I can be that for you too.”

“Why? We are not together because we are the same. We are together because we are different. And where you have a hole, I fit in, and where I have a hole, you fit in, and all together, it makes sense.”

He can tell that Xiao Zhan contemplates that. And concedes with, “Yin and Yang?"

"That's a way to elevate us, but sure, why not..."

"No prize for guessing who's the dark side.” Xiao Zhan mutters, but he can hear the amusement in his voice now.

He smiles and rubs Xiao Zhan's back again, although now his hands stray lower and lower, until they are caressing the best pair of ass cheeks in the continent. He can feel himself start to harden, all the more so because he is still inside and it’s tight and wet with cum and lube.

Xiao Zhan pulls back and looks down, almost in wonder. “Fuck, already?” he asks in a whisper.

“Sorry…” he says as he starts to pull out. 

“Mmm…” Xiao Zhan lets him pull out but then moves back to the other end of the tub, finally noticing the tube of lube. 

He turns around, kneeling now, his elbows balanced on the edge of tub and looks over his shoulder. “Come here.”

Yibo is on him the next instant, although they’re in swirling water, and he is not taking chances with friction, slathering on more lube.

He grabs onto Xiao Zhan’s waist with one hand as he guides his cock in with the other. This time the slide is so good that he is thrusting in and out right away. 

“You’re not hard.” He says a minute in, slowing down.

“Don’t… don’t slow down. Keep going.” Xiao Zhan says, pulling him back in by the ass, arching his back when it goes deep.

“Are you sure?”

“Yibo, I’ll seriously murder you if you stop now.”

That’s all the encouragement that he needs to speed up, and he is at it now, his age finally showing itself, overeager, over-enthused, and just over the top in every which way. He grunts and falls on top of Xiao Zhan when he comes and Xiao Zhan takes on almost all of his weight, his elbows still the only leverage he has against the tub.

When he can move, Yibo finally pulls out and sinks down into the water, pulling Xiao Zhan back onto his lap. 

Xiao Zhan is still hardly hard. “Did I hurt you?” Yibo asks. He notices other things too now, running his hands over Xiao Zhan’s neck where there are two enormous bruises already, starting to look like they will need serious makeup coverage. His nipples are swollen and there is a hickey along the side of his right abdomen and just over the line of his hip on the other side. And of course, the quintessential shoulder bite. 

Xiao Zhan must see his perusal because he says, “I love it that you love me this way. Honest.” 

“It looks like you got attacked.”

“It looks like my fiancé can’t keep his hands off of me.”

That makes him pause and then he pulls Xiao Zhan back towards him to bite the side of his neck. Xiao Zhan’s head falls back against his shoulder as he purrs, “Fuck me any way you want, any time you want. I love making you lose control. It’s the best high.”

“Can I fuck you awake in the morning?”

“Mmmn…” Xiao Zhan murmurs with his eyes closed, as if he is imagining it. 

“Is that a yes?” 

“Yesss…” he pulls out the affirmation as if he just got to the good part of that in his head. 

“Can I blow you backstage at one of our concerts?” he asks and now it’s his head that’s filled with figuring out how he could maneuver Xiao Zhan’s tall frame into a corner deep enough to give them the privacy to undo just his zipper and take him into his mouth.

“Hey, hey, I’m the groupie. I should be the one blowing you backstage.” Xiao Zhan opens his eyes and turns around.

“Yea, but I’m a little big for your mouth, baby. We can’t have you coughing and gagging and getting all the crew up in our business.”

“That’s a technique issue. I just need practice.”

“You want me to teach you?” Yibo asks.

“On what? Your dick? You’ve been practicing self-fellatio?”

That image is so hilarious that he laughs out loud.

When he quiets down, he notices that Xiao Zhan is grinning too and he pulls him into his hold once more.

“There’s a thought.”

“There’s a thought.” Xiao Zhan agrees.

“But you know what I _have_ been practicing, actually?” 

“What?”

“How to be a bottom.”

Xiao Zhan’s smile disappears and he turns around in his lap to face him.

“Why?”

“In the event it’s something you wanted to try.”

Xiao Zhan is watching him now, his eyes narrowed until they light on the lube. “That’s why you have this?” 

He nods, sheepishly. 

“Why do you think I want to be top?” 

“I don’t. I just want you to have options.”

“I’m a force of nature, Yibo. If I top you in bed too, we would be all sorts of fucked up.” 

“Let me take those chances.” He answers.

Xiao Zhan watches him and Yibo wonders what that gaze means. 

And so his heart curls up in surprise and pleasure when Xiao Zhan leans forward until their foreheads touch and whispers softly,

“I love you.”

xxxxxx


	43. UNIQ

“Ready?” Yibo asks.

Xiao Zhan shakes his head.

“Oh, come on!” Yibo says, pulling on his hand. 

“Yibo, honestly! I cannot in good faith go tell your brothers that I have managed to seduce their maknae. I should have some sense of shame.”

Yibo stares at him for a moment and then says, “Oh, forget you!”

He rings the doorbell and waits. A minute later, Haikuan opens the door. 

Haikuan looks amused, as if he had been expecting them. Which of course he had been. Who else would have given Xiao Zhan the exact location of where they were. 

“Are they all here?” Yibo asks. 

Haikuan nods and moves aside so that he can walk in.

“Yibo…” he hears Xiao Zhan call from behind and looks back. 

Xiao Zhan looks so helplessly cute or maybe cutely helpless. Definitely not a look that Xiao Zhan sports often. Hell, ever. He is just glad that for once there is something he can do for Xiao Zhan, instead of the other way around. 

Yibo looks at Haikuan and Haikuan raises an eyebrow, looking back and forth between them. 

“Maybe you want to take him for a walk and bring him back in a few? I think he will keel over from nerves if he stays here for the next few minutes.” He asks Haikuan.

“I will not…” Xiao Zhan starts, but Haikuan – awesome peoples that he is – takes his word and ushers Xiao Zhan out, closing the door behind him.

For a moment, Yibo stands in the hallway and takes a deep breath. He feels like he should call Jackson for moral support. Although even that feels like he’s betraying his brothers because Jackson knows and they don’t. 

He walks in and finds that Sungjoo and Yixuan are lounging on the couch on their phones. Seungyoun and Wenhan are… attempting to recreate the moves to EXO’s Obsession? … not easy. 

When he walks in, Wenhan pauses in his moves and looks at him. There are still times when Yibo thinks that Wenhan has a sixth sense when it comes to certain things about him. He wonders if he knows. He gestures to the couch and they both take a seat, although Seungyoun asks, “You feeling better?” You look better! What happened?”

He hates build-ups. He doesn’t even know how to do it. And so, he thinks he should just… go for it.

He closes his eyes and swallows and gathers up the courage. Because this, it turns out, is actually harder than he had thought it would be. Maybe Xiao Zhan had been onto something…

“I’m thinking about getting married.” He says, pretty calmly he thinks, for all the corkscrews of tension spinning inside.

It’s pin-drop silence when he opens his eyes.

Sungjoo’s jaw drops open and Yixuan eyes are about to fall out. Seungyoun laughs. And then looks around and says, “Wait, are you serious?”

He nods.

He looks at Wenhan and sees that his head is tilted sideways in shock.

Okay, so maybe he should have given them some advance warning. But really, when could that have happened. He hadn’t ever thought there was even a chance in hell that Xiao Zhan would actually ever decide to be with him, no matter how deeply he reciprocated any of his feelings. To jump from never-in-this-lifetime to I-do was a huge leap.

“You didn’t tell us that you’re back together with Jackson.” Seungyoun says now.

“Oh, come on! You know he was never even with Jackson.” Wenhan blurts out and everyone turns to him in surprise. Actually, not everyone. Yixuan doesn’t look all that surprised about that, Yibo notices.

He had always wondered if Wenhan had guessed. 

“What??” Seungyoun asks.

“To be fair, you just assumed that I was with him. I didn’t tell you that.” Yibo says, unhelpfully, he thinks afterwards. Because Seungyoun just looks confused as hell now.

“Wait, then who are you marrying?” Sungjoo asks.

He thinks this is going from bad to worse by the second. Maybe he should have asked Xiao Zhan to sit this one out at least. Give the guys some time to wrap their heads around this. 

“Is it really him?” Wenhan asks.

He nods. 

“Seriously??” Wenhan asks again, rubbing his fingers over his face and falling back against the couch, “Wow Fuck!”

“Who?” Yixuan and Seungyoun asks together.

“Xiao Zhan.” He answers.

“Which Xiao Zhan?” Seungyoun asks. And then, “Wait, not Zhan ge!”

“Yes, Zhan ge.”

Seungyoun is so shocked that he stands up from the couch, sits down, then stands up again.

“What the fuck!? Since when?”

“That’s a difficult question to answer.” He says, just realizing that it is indeed. Had they really skipped over the boyfriend part?

“NO SHIT, SON!” Seungyoun yells.

“In the most generous interpretation, since before Wen Entertainment signed us.” Yibo says with a sigh, sitting down on the opposite armchair.

That gets Wenhan to turn to him in surprise.

He nods. “When Wen Xu signed us, I wasn’t aware that he was Xiao Zhan’s brother. Or that Xiao Zhan was in anyway involved with the Wens. Hell, he doesn’t even have their last name.”

Seungyoun tilts his head, begrudgingly acceding that point before sitting down.

“In the strictest interpretation though, we have never properly been in a relationship.” He admits.

“I don’t understand any of this.” Seungyoun says, looking at Sungjoo and Yixuan and asking, “Do you? Is this a language thing? Do I not speak good enough Mandarin?”

Yibo laughs. And then he knows what a nervous laugh sounds like. Obnoxious. 

He closes his eyes and tries to think of how to condense the past three years into a few sentences.

“I have wanted to be with him for a long time. He has understandably had concerns about such a relationship. Firstly, they are the Wens. Secondly, the employer-employee thing. Thirdly, I’m an idol in the middle of a comeback with a group. He didn’t want to ruin my reputation. Fourth, he has always thought that his father would do me in if he ever found out. So yea, lots of obstacles.”

“So how the fuck did you manage to fall in love with him barely seeing him all these years?” Seungyoun asks. When it’s dead silence once more, he looks around at the rest of them. “Feel free to jump in anytime y’all want, okay? Because I can’t be the only one with questions.”

“What about his father?” Yixuan asks.

Finally, a question he could answer.

“Wen Ruohan is the one who asked me.”

“Asked you what?” Sungjoo asks.

“If I wanted to marry Xiao Zhan.”

“What the fuck!!” Seungyoun exclaims. 

“Wait, his father knew?” Wenhan asks.

Yibo nods. “His father legit knows everything. Like scary-level everything.”

“I’m sorry, we didn’t know, but his father knew??” Seungyoun asks.

“I don’t know, Seungyoun. Maybe you’re just not that perceptive! Hot damn! This is hard enough already without your third degree!”

“Well, excuse the fuck out of me, asshole! How do you call me your friend when you have managed to have an entire relationship with the Wen Entertainment’s VP…”

“Ex VP” he reminds, although he shouldn’t.

“Ex fucking VP for three fucking years…”

“Okay, I said it’s more complicated than that.”

“FOR MORE THAN 3 FUCKING YEARS…” Seungyoun yells just as the door opens.

“Fuck! Okay, that’s him. Please be nice. He’s freaked out enough without you yelling your lungs out.” He says, grabbing Seungyoun into a quick hug and whispering in his ear, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, ok? But I really like him. Like _really_ _really_. Please let me have this.”

Seungyoun looks at him strangely, but doesn’t let go of his hand when Xiao Zhan and Haikuan walk in.

Everyone stands up now, a sort of formality invading the atmosphere that wasn’t there before.

Xiao Zhan’s eyes widen and it’s Haikuan who says, “Why is everyone standing? Sit down.”

There’s an awkward silence that ensues and just when he thinks his heart will crush itself from the tension in the air, Seungyoun looks at their joined hands – Yibo notices that he is clutching onto Seungyoun’s hand as if for dear life – and says, “So, you’re stealing our maknae away.”

He looks at Xiao Zhan and notices a quick nervous twitch to one eyelid. Oh shit. This is going to plummet south even more. 

But then Xiao Zhan turns that twitch into a wink, directed at Seungyoun, and says, “You weren’t available.”

For a moment, Seungyoun looks taken aback. But then he laughs. “Oh, I think you just didn’t try hard enough, Zhan ge...”

It breaks the ice for the moment, which has to be good enough for now. 

Xxxxxxxx

That night when they are in bed – a reality that is a bit strange to wrap his head around – Yibo brings up the subject with as much preamble as he had this morning with the boys. Because he knows if he won’t, Xiao Zhan will keep worrying it over in his head until it marinates into pickle.

“That went over as well as shit, but I think the worst is over.”

“How do you figure?” Xiao Zhan asks. Even though Xiao Zhan is lying on his side and Yibo is spooning him from behind, he can still see that Xiao Zhan is chewing his lower lip to bits. It’s endearing to see him worry so much about the opinion of his brothers when Xiao Zhan’s regular MO in life and work is so very different.

“They’re more upset that I didn’t tell them before. That I sort of led them to believe that I was with Jackson in the past. That basically, my love life, as they knew it, has all been… a lie.”

“They’re not worried about this affecting the group?” he asks.

“Hmm, I’m sure it’s crossed their mind, but Xiao Zhan… Yixuan and Sungjoo are in their 30s. We are hardly a group of teens that the sole notion of marriage is going to decimate. What if it’s one of them in my position? We have been together long enough to know that it’s easy to miss out on a lot in life with the sort of lives we lead. The chance at real happiness is a rare thing in life. I don’t think any of us are young enough to take that for granted or push it away.”

Xiao Zhan seems to think on that for some time and then turns around so that he is now on his back, facing the ceiling. “I think Yixuan and Sungjoo took it rather well. Seungyoun will come around.”

“You’re worried about Wenhan?” he asks.

“He’s always been the most protective of you.” 

“Yes, because he thought it would never work out. That the idea of me and you was just me asking for heartache.”

“Hmm…” Xiao Zhan considers that. And considers that some more.

“Talking with you is always a pleasant exercise.” He says now, watching Xiao Zhan start to nibble on that lower lip again.

It takes a moment, but then Xiao Zhan turns to him, tilting his head. “How?” 

“Mmm.” He answers, pushing up on his elbow.

His eyes drop to Xiao Zhan’s lips and he finally becomes aware of what he is doing and stops.

“You’re a really good listener, you know that?” 

“Meh” is the answer, although now neither of them is listening to the words, as he takes in those swollen lips and bends down to lightly lick the bottom one. 

Xiao Zhan’s eyes close and his hands come up around Yibo’s neck to pull him down as he says, “I’m a terrible listener. Because I haven’t been able to think of anything but your dick for the past hour.”

That makes him laugh, although when Xiao Zhan whispers, “Are you hard?” he just kicks off his pajama pants and grabs around his cock to stroke it slowly. “I am now.” 

Xiao Zhan seems to have put behind his failure of the morning because he slides lower on the bed to take him into his mouth. This time though, it seems less intent on pleasing Yibo and more just focused on wanting to suck cock to pleasure himself. In fact, he only looks at the cock as he sucks on it with a sort of single-mindedness. It’s sort of dirty and filthy and it makes Yibo crazy as he watches. He groans when he feels that he is close and drags Xiao Zhan back up to him. He is vocal about his resistance to this, but Yibo takes the chance to kiss him, slipping his tongue in to taste himself. That gets him a long moan, especially when he takes Xiao Zhan’s dick in his hand to pump it up and down until it’s hard enough to stand at attention.

He rubs their cocks together as he grabs onto Xiao Zhan’s hands to bring them up to his chest.

“Can I tie you up?” he asks, whispering next to Xiao Zhan’s ear as he uses his other hand to wrap Xiao Zhan’s long legs around his hips.

Those lovely eyes open and they are so clouded with lust that Yibo wonders if he even heard him. 

“Can I tie you up, baby? I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

Xiao Zhan closes his eyes again and doesn’t say yes, but puts his wrists against each other and extends it above his head. 

“Fuck, really?” he asks, barely able to contain his excitement. Although, as he gets off the bed to look for something to tie those wrists with, he thinks that he is just being indulged. He’s taking advantage of Xiao Zhan’s lust and distraction, isn’t he? 

The only thing he can find that is thin and long is an unopened neon green shoelace in his suitcase that some brand had sent over with a pair of shoes. He stares at how bright the string is and sighs. They had serious things to worry about. Instead, he was eager to act out every hormonal fantasy that he’d ever had about Xiao Zhan like some pimply kid still having wet dreams. 

By the time he returns to bed, his erection has flagged and he finds Xiao Zhan sitting up against the headboard, chewing on his lips again. 

He climbs onto the bed, watching one end of that lower lip being gnawed to bits, and knows why he wanted to do this in the first place.

He unravels the lace, one hand tugging the open-end back and forth and back and forth until it is one long line.

Xiao Zhan looks at him and then at the shoelace and he wonders if whatever’s going through his head has made him change his mind. Instead, the chewing pauses as Xiao Zhan extends his hands, once again the wrists crossing each other. 

He ties the knot loosely around the wrists and then raises his eyes to Xiao Zhan’s.

He raises an eyebrow in question and in answer Xiao Zhan raises the wrists above his head and slides down on the bed. 

“Have you done this before?” he asks.

Xiao Zhan shakes his head. He hadn’t thought so. Xiao Zhan was too much of a control freak to let anyone tie him up. 

He climbs on top and presses his palm down over Xiao Zhan’s wrists. Not too hard, but with just enough force to let him feel contained, secure. 

“Say Rossi at any time if you want me to stop.”

Xiao Zhan smiles at that, but doesn’t speak otherwise. 

He sits back on his knees and looks down, pulling off Xiao Zhan’s pajama bottoms and boxer briefs right away. He unbuttons the shirt and tucks it under on either side, not bothering to take it off. 

He hadn’t been able to see Xiao Zhan’s body like this before in the jacuzzi and he takes a moment to appreciate how sensual it is, from those eyes and lips to those collar bones to the gentle arch beneath his back, the lean lines of his thighs, those long shin bones and perfect arches of his feet. He has his hand around his cock halfway through the perusal and by the time his eyes rove back up, he is pumping himself up and down rhythmically.

When his eyes are back to Xiao Zhan’s, he sees that Xiao Zhan is watching him with hungry eyes, his back arching even more and his folded-up knees spreading to show the leaking cock and…

Within moments, he has the lube in his hand and coated around three fingers. He is frankly amazed at his hand-independence when a few minutes later finds him pumping his lubed fingers in and out of Xiao Zhan while his other hand jerks his own dick up and down and his mouth is swallowing Xiao Zhan’s hot wet cock. 

Xiao Zhan almost bucks off the bed at one point when he sucks with just the right force, but he keeps his hands up above his head, not once bringing it back down. He is moaning so much that Yibo thinks he can come just from listening to the sounds. He teases with his fingers just so and tongues Xiao Zhan’s slit at the same time and sees Xiao Zhan’s belly suck in like a cavern and is ready when he feels the cum spurting inside his mouth, making his hand speed up on his own cock to shoot his cum all over Xiao Zhan’s thigh.

They are both panting hard at the end. And although he wants to fall over onto the bed once he pulls out his glistening fingers, he knows that it’s easier in the long run if he cleans up now. He goes to the bathroom and stands in the walk-in shower for a minute before drying off and wetting a warm towel to come back out. Xiao Zhan is just where he left him, barely mobile, even when Yibo cleans him up. When he climbs into bed afterwards and moves up to kiss him, he notices the teeth mark on the inside of Xiao Zhan’s arm where he had bitten down to keep from screaming. How could he have forgotten that Xiao Zhan was a screamer. Not always, but it could definitely get to the that. Yibo had memories of ripped pillow from way back as proof. 

The shoelace had been a bad idea. He pulls those hands down and looks at the angry red marks around the wrists where the hard fibers had shown no mercy when Xiao Zhan had lost control.

“We buy silk next time.” He says, untying the shoelaces and pressing his lips against the bruising.

“My head is empty.” Xiao Zhan says, eyes half-lidded, not caring of the wrists. 

“Finally…” Yibo sighs, spooning Xiao Zhan from behind, loving how warm his body feels.

“You’re going to do that every time you want me to de-stress?”

“Why? You didn’t like it?” he asks.

“I’m just worried that I’m going to get fully addicted to you and then the Wen Empire will have no one to run it and it will fall to ruin and I would have single-handedly ruined my father’s entire legacy… all because I’m all too happy to be your cockslut.”

Yibo laughs. And then he laughs some more at the image that creates in his head and hugs Xiao Zhan even tighter.

Xiao Zhan allows this, every molecule in his body seemingly unbound and untethered, and continues, “And then what will I tell poor Xiao Lu and A’Yuan? Your uncle is a weak, weak man, kiddos. And my tombstone will read, Here lies Xiao Zhan. Son of Wen Ruohan and Xiao Sanren. Born 1991. Died 2023. Cause of Death. Wang Yibo’s Penis.”

Yibo laughs harder, although now he asks with a little slap to one ass-cheek. “You’re talking an awful lot for someone whose head is empty.”

“Hmm… that’s right… let’s sleep.” Xiao Zhan murmurs, and not a minute later, Yibo hears those breaths even out. 

“I have my work cut out for me, my little worrywart…” he whispers, pressing his lips against Xiao Zhan’s shoulder and then his nape as he throws one leg over him to hold him close, their bodies so tangled together that it’s hard to tell who ended and who began where. 


	44. Wen Ruohan

He watched them from his window; it had a narrow view into the back balcony and while he couldn’t see the whole of the balcony, the way there were just leaning against the railing closest to his room and chatting, the view was unobstructed enough. Whenever he saw them together, and he had seen them together a lot since he had had that conversation with Wang Yibo seven months ago, he was always surprised at how different his son seemed. 

He had always known that his younger son felt more than his older son; he didn’t think it had as much to do with his sexual orientation as much as it did his passionate nature. But just like everything else about him, Xiao Zhan had learned to hide it well. And to a great degree, he had been glad about that as he had watched him grow up. It had been necessary. He couldn’t survive in their world if he didn’t know how to hide what needed to be hidden. 

But Xiao Zhan had proved almost too adept at hiding, when Wen Xu had been given carte blanche to act out as much as he wanted to. Maybe he should have reeled in Wen Xu more. But during those years, he had always been too preoccupied with conquering the world to care about what his wife or children needed. Sanren had always seemed a more than capable mother. Although it would be more accurate to say that he had been content to see it that way. A lot of Wen Xu’s antics, in the limited time that he had been home to witness it, he had brushed off as growing pains. It wasn’t until Xiao Zhan had been born and Sanren had refused to give him the Wen last name that he had started to think that maybe he should start to pay more attention to his family. Xiao Zhan had been such a beautiful baby and then dressed up as such a pretty girl that each time he returned home, he had wondered whether he should take Sanren to a psychiatrist. But she had seemed genuinely happy for the first time in years with their girl-boy that he had decided to leave well enough alone. And for a while he had sort of convinced himself that he had a daughter. Until, of course, Xiao Zhan grew a little older and became a strange combination of dualities. He was a precocious, beautiful, and intelligent child, but now also mean and sweet, odd and popular, loyal and selfish, idealistic and practical, emotional and calculating, all at the same time. While even the worst of Wen Xu’s antics had not held much interest to him beyond the moment, even Xiao Zhan’s most mundane action, he watched carefully. By the time Xiao Zhan was five, he could twist Wen Xu into a pretzel of frustration with just a few well-chosen words. He could be a sassy ball of humor around Sanren, cute as a bunny with the house staff, and politely formal with him. Oftentimes, Xiao Zhan had treated him like an unwelcome visitor during those early years, barely speaking a word to him willingly unless directly asked a question. He hadn’t known what to do with him. Wen Xu been much easier to indulge in the moment and overlook when he was gone. Xiao Zhan, on the other hand, stayed on his mind longer and longer each visit home. 

He had known Wen Xu was not heir material by the time he was 15. But Wen Xu was still his son. And there was a lot of the wealthy that were just slightly different permutations of Wen Xu. It was the perfect training ground to groom the real heir to the Wen Group. Put him under Wen Xu. There was no amount of training Xiao Zhan could have gotten in any other company or in any other place that would have trained him as effectively as learning to manage Wen Xu, especially Wen Xu in a position of power. Xiao Zhan had mastered that by 23, which had graduated him to dealing with his father, and Ruohan liked to think of himself as one of the breeds of the cunning wolves of the world. Xiao Zhan had gotten good at that too, to an extent. But by the time he got to his late 20s, Ruohan could see the exhaustion it caused in him. He had been disappointed for the first time. If exhaustion set in in when you were still in the prime of your life, especially with the mental prowess that Xiao Zhan had, then it did not bode well for the long-term. It wasn’t until he learned of the Yibo incident that it had struck him that while he knew his son dated on and off, he had never shown any meaningful interest in any romantic entanglements. He had always assumed it was because Xiao Zhan was too much of a pragmatist to pay much attention to passing fancies. And certainly too much of a cynic to be taken in by the infatuations of youth. When he finally saw them together that night at dinner, Ruohan had discovered how wrong he was. Yibo had the sort of look that made even straight men look twice. But then again, so did his son. But he hadn’t thought of Xiao Zhan as someone who was romantically inclined until that night. And there was he was, leaking at the pores trying to contain his attraction and showing a fierce sort of protectiveness towards someone who was not family. That whole deflection attempt with Haikuan, Ruohan had seen through right away. Even before he could decide what to do about it, Xiao Zhan had sent Yibo away. And that’s when he had known it was not a simple matter. Xiao Zhan did not develop affections easily and when he went to the extent that he had gone to for Yibo, well… he had known Yibo was an entity significant enough to pay attention to. And so, he had had Yibo investigated. He only had a father whom he didn’t see often, owing to his job. He had started too early in the industry to even properly finish high school, much less get a degree. Ruohan had been disappointed again in Xiao Zhan. He didn’t think Xiao Zhan of all people, when he finally fell for someone, would simply be taken in by looks. How long would that last. And when that was over, what would be left. Maybe Yibo had other qualities, who knew. But with his state then, once his dancing and singing careers were over and his looks aged, what else would be there. His son would lose interest quickly in anything that did not keep his brain interested. And so he had decided to put the boy in college. And make it a requirement that he do well. Because if he had nothing in his noggin, this would reveal itself quickly and he thought it would be enough to make Xiao Zhan be done with Yibo once and for all. 

And then two years had passed and even with hardly any contact between them, Ruohan had discovered that, against all odds, his son had fallen even deeper. He wasn’t even sure how it was possible. How did two people who barely saw each other for two years become stronger in their affection for each other? He was not sure. But by then, it had also become clear to him that his son had no actual intention of ever pursuing Yibo. He seemed content to keep him away. In the long run, this seemed a poor strategy. Wen Xu had had all the latitude in the world. To fuck around and mess up and recover and rinse and repeat. None of which Xiao Zhan seemed intent on doing. 

At some point, Ruohan had just had to acknowledge that he wanted to see his son more content in life. That had started to become important. He had never expected to have a son whom he would be so proud of. Who was so loyal, even when he had no reason to be. Who was so determined to deny himself something he craved so much, because… he just wasn’t sure. If he wanted Yibo so much, why not go and claim him. But no, for some reason, even after he made the boys return to China, Xiao Zhan had shown no intention of doing anything about Yibo. Instead, he seemed content on living like a monk, pining away. Through his son’s devotion alone, he had grown curious about Wang Yibo. And so, he had requested a meeting. 

He had seen Yibo prior to that meeting, of course, but only in groups; other than his looks, the boy had not stood out. He tended to be quieter than others, but in Ruohan’s opinion, not all still waters ran deep. That adage had been made up by someone who had not encountered all still waters. Besides, Yibo was so good-looking that it was hard to not hold that against him, even though he, of all people, should not have such biases, because, well, his son. But still…

In hindsight, he wasn’t even sure that he could pinpoint anything specifically that Yibo had said during that meeting that made him decide halfway through that the marriage thing had indeed been the right way to proceed. Although, watching them now, in that space where they thought they were alone, even though they weren’t touching, his son’s eyes crinkled in a way that he had really never seen with anyone other than with Yibo. Oh, he was an affectionate creature with Sanren, and now with the twins and Jin Su. But that was different. This was… something else. Once upon a time, Sanren used to look at him that way. 

Yibo was… a different sort of man. It seemed an insult to call him a boy. It had been a long time since he had met someone who could hold his gaze with a steadiness like Yibo. It wasn’t hubris, or challenge, or bravado, or anything of that sort. It was just Yibo. Sitting with another man. Giving him respect, but not reverence. Attention, but not subservience. He had still been quiet, not initiating conversation and only answering what was asked. But with a sort of steadiness that was unusual for men twice his age. 

He looks back at them now. A gust of wind blows through and Xiao Zhan’s unbound hair flies in his face. When he starts to pull it back, Yibo takes over, gathering it up into ponytail in the back. They keep talking through it as if such intimate gestures were natural enough between them to merit any undue attention. 

“Are you becoming a romantic in your old age, spying on your children during their private time?” he hears Sanren behind him.

“I was not spying. I just happened to see them there and was just looking.”

“That’s what we regular people call spying.”

He allows that, but feels the need to add given that she had used children instead of child. “And for the record, I do _not_ spy on Jin Su and Wen Qing.” 

“Why? They are less discrete than these two. I would have thought that when Xiao Zhan finally got the chance to show off his fiancé, he would be all about the PDA.”

“Please. It’s like you don’t know him at all. He would never do that.” He counters.

“How do you figure?” she asks.

“I don’t know. I just think that’s a private thing for him.”

“Yea, because in what part of the world are gays allowed to be as touchy-feely as they want to be?”

He knows she meant that rhetorically, but he still answers her seriously. “There’s a place in New York City. It’s a neighborhood with a weird name, but it’s a good community for… them, I think.”

“You’re going to ship them off to New York City just so that they can show PDA in public?”

He tilts his head. He knows she knows better. She just does not want to face the possibility of Xiao Zhan being away from her for any extended period of time

“You can go with them too, you know. The loft has three bedrooms and more than enough space to accommodate three.”

“Yes, so I can be the fly in their ointment.” She says with a roll of her eyes and he fights a grin.

“What? Didn’t we christen every surface of every room in our flat when we first got married? I’m sure they would like their privacy.”

“I’m glad you can consider that.”

“What if they like it so much that they decide to stay?” she is back to despair.

“He will never leave you for any significant length of time. And Yibo knows you wouldn’t want that anyways, so he is also not inclined to let that happen.”

“I’m being selfish, aren’t I?”

“How? I threatened to sue Jin Su’s parents to bring her back here. And I feel no remorse for it. I’m the last person to talk about being selfish.”

“I’m glad you know.” She says and he smiles. 

It’s been long enough though that he thinks his earlier threats are water under the bridge. Besides, Jin Su is practically glowing nowadays, so the Jins really have nothing to complain about. And, they see their grandchildren every weekend.

“In what world will my heir and the Wen grandchildren’s uncle decide to move to another country permanently? Think about it. And would Yibo really leave his father for that long?”

That seems to do the trick because Sanren looks a bit relieved now, although she doesn’t say anything.

“The kids are back.” She says now, as if just remembering why she came upstairs in the first place.

“Oh? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” he asks, immediately walking to the door.

She smiles and looks out the window that her husband had been looking out of earlier. “Because you were too busy spying on these lovebirds.” She murmurs, although she too stands there now to watch. Xiao Zhan is saying something and Yibo is nodding and now she notices that indeed there is a few inches between them. And it’s true, while they don’t go out of their way to not touch each other in public, they also don’t do it often. And given how much her son loves to be touched, she wonders how long he needs to wait before he feels comfortable enough to do as he pleased.

xxxxxx

“Fine, fine, we’ll do that. Now, off you go. I know your boy is waiting in your room.” Wen Qing says, pushing him out the door.

“He is in the guest room.” He feels the need to point out.

“Oh yes, the guest room. Because that’s really where he sleeps every time he comes over for the weekend.” She raises that eyebrow.

“How do you know?” he asks.

She rolls her eyes.

“Oh come on, it’s not like you’ve seen him sneak into my room.” He says and then pauses, “Wait, have you?”

She laughs. “We all know you fuck like rabbits. But if you truly want to pretend like you’re some virgin angels – I have to assume, to show your father, maybe – then, no, I have never seen him sneak into your room.”

“Then how do you know we “fuck like rabbits.””

Wen Qing rolls her eyes again and leans forward. “Because I can just sense it, okay? He has an enormous dick and you can’t get enough of it.”

“What the fuck!?!” he sputters. And then, “Wait, how do you know he has a big dick?”

She laughs. “There’s a lot of big dick energy around Yibo.”

This time, it’s he who rolls his eyes.

“Okay fine, I saw him in swim trunks at the pool the other day. And let me tell you, water and swim trunks, junior Yibo was in fine form. Especially when you came out and junior got… excited.”

“Shut the fuck up!” he says, although he remembers. How Yibo had managed to get erect while in the not warm pool is still a mystery, but dicks worked in mysterious ways.

She laughs now and pushes him out the room. “Now you’re cutting into my cunnilingus time. Begone.”

“Okay, more than I needed to know.”

“Okay, fake prude. Get the fuck out of here.”

It’s true, he acknowledges as he leaves Wen Qing and Jin Su’s room. He is a newly minted fake prude, as if the prudeness will somehow hide how much sex he is having. It’s a lot. Like, a fuck ton. It’s good that he and Yibo only get to see each other once or twice every few weeks, because otherwise, he will literally never get to work.

He doesn’t get quite make it to his room when he is pulled into another door with a hand slapped over his mouth.

“What the fuck?” he mumbles, although the door closes to full darkness and he feels Yibo press him into the wall, flush against his back.

“Fuck baby, you can’t wait until I get to the bedroom?” he asks, even as his eyes close because Yibo’s hand is already down the front of his pants, palming him.

“Isn’t this the west-end tea room?” Yibo asks.

Yibo’s erection is pressing against his back and it takes him a moment to focus on what Yibo said.

“No, this isn’t the west end tea room! This is the west-end coat room. There is no fucking camera in here.” He mutters.

“What the fuck! Who needs a coat room in this location?” Yibo says, laying his forehead against the back of Xiao Zhan’s neck. 

For a moment, Yibo’s hand stills on his dick, but then it moves again, softly this time, making him lean back into Yibo’s body.

“Did you bring the lube?” he whispers when Yibo noses below his ear, breathing him in. 

In answer, Yibo brings out the tube from his pocket and makes him feel it.

“Fuck, we’re going to make a mess. And we have to walk out of here with the mess.” He feels the need to point out.

“I can come in a condom.” Yibo says helpfully.

“No.” he whispers as he opens the tube and squeezes some out onto his hand. He turns around to drop down to the floor and lowers Yibo’s joggers to take his cock inside his mouth. He loves opening himself up like this. Hell, he loves coming like this, but Yibo always pulls him up halfway through to turn him around to slide his cock inside him. Deep fucking inside. It’s honestly the best way to have sex. It gets him off better than everything else. It’s no different today, although being sucked off in the pitch dark, standing up, does something to Yibo and he is groaning in no time and pulling him up to turn him around. There is no real purchase on the wall and so Yibo holds him tight by the waist as he pounds into him and he bites the back of his hand at how good it is already. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Yibo’s voice is hoarse in his ears. “Oh fuuuuck...” he says now gripping his hips so tight that it hurts. When Yibo bites into the back of his shoulder, he comes, although thankfully he remembers to bring his pants up over his dick so that it’s splattered all over the inside of his clothes and not against his mother’s begonia wallpaper.

Yibo falls against him, out of breath, and they stay like that for a bit and then he laughs.

Yibo squeezes him around the waist. “It could happen to anyone.”

He laughs harder.

“I mean, who even has a west-end coat room?”

He laughs some more.

“Made you covered in cum though.” 

This is true.

“You always make me covered in cum. How is this any different?”

“This is true.” Yibo says.

“So are you going to keep pulling me into random rooms in the mansion until one day you correctly discover the west-end tea room?” he asks.

“Hmm… there’s a thought.” Yibo says and he can imagine him smirking.

“Don’t get ideas.” He says.

“Maybe you can dress up like a French maid and I can fuck you while you serve tea?” 

Xiao Zhan pulls his pants back up. He is fucking sticky all over; the aftermath of their sexcapades are the godawful cleanup. “You’re watching way too much porn, baby.”

Yibo grabs him back though and backs against the wall to kiss him. It’s a sweet sort of kiss and when he pulls back, he murmurs, his eyes still closed, “Okay, I’ll get the French maid costume.”

Yibo laughs and he opens his eyes.

“Can I stay with you for Kuan Ge’s wedding?” he asks.

“No. You can’t stay with me anywhere until we get married.”

“Then get a single so I can sneak in.”

“Wen Ning is rooming with me.”

“Fuck.” 

“Why don’t you get a single then?”

“Yea, right. Seungyoun is already there with me. And he’s already told me that if I try to sneak you in, he’ll definitely jump into bed with us and try to get in your pants.”

He sighs dramatically. “Tell him I’m down for a threesome.”

“Fuck no.” Yibo says.

He looks back with surprise. “I would think you’d be into that sort of thing.”

“Why? Because I like to fuck a lot?” 

He narrows his eyes at the tone. “Do you have a complex about how much you like sex?”

“I don’t know. Should I?” Yibo asks, letting go.

“Fuck you, Yibo.” He turns to leave and Yibo pulls him back, arms around his waist. “Should I?” he asks softly.

Xiao Zhan turns back and looks at him, barely able to make out Yibo’s features in the dark, although he can see enough of those eyes to ask, “Wait, are you serious? You have a complex about how much you like sex?”

“I want you all the time, I have always been open about that. And we only see each other like every few weeks, so I go a little crazy maybe. Is it too much?”

“You don’t think I want you back the same way?”

“I don’t know. I always initiate.”

“Fuck, Yibo. When do I even have the chance to initiate? Every moment alone we have to ourselves, we are already fucking.”

Yibo is quiet now and he pulls Yibo close to him, putting his arms around his neck. “Don’t make that face. I love it. Honest.”

Yibo is quiet for a moment and then asks, “You really want a threesome?” 

Xiao Zhan tilts his head at this tone. It sounds… he is not sure.

“If I said yes?”

For some reason, his chest is beating hard as he waits for an answer. He didn’t really think he could bear it if…

Yibo moves forward and drops his forehead against his, murmuring, “I really don’t think I would be able to do it… I would probably die a little inside if I have to watch someone else…”

He doesn’t let Yibo finish before he leans in to kiss him. It takes a moment and then Yibo is kissing him back just as fervently, his arms climbing under the back of his shirt and pulling him in until their bodies are crushed together.

And against all odd, he finds that he is hard – a miracle of a refractory period that is generally Yibo’s territory – and he rubs against Yibo earnestly, moaning when he finds how quickly Yibo’s body answers.

He is thankful that the coat rack is fixed to the floor and empty when he hangs onto its bar as Yibo takes him from behind. It’s not a position he can hold on for too long ordinarily, but this time is different, the sex is slow and hard. He is not moaning, but breathless and Yibo sucks so many hickeys into his skin that he will be forced to wear turtlenecks for at least a week. He can feel how needy Yibo is just from how he comes in and pulls out, both his arms holding around him tightly. And Xiao Zhan whispers again and again all the words possible to fill that need, warm and dirty and sweet and filthy all at the same time. He comes much quicker than Yibo, who takes a while longer and he is glad for Yibo’s iron legs for supporting their position for that long. By the time Yibo bites into his shoulder, the other one this time, they are covered in perspiration and all they can do is sink and collapse on the floor, naked and sated. They don’t quite make it out of the room before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

xxxxxxxxx


	45. The Wedding

He was just a weeee bit drunk.

“You’re more than a _weeee_ bit drunk.” Haikuan says. 

He didn’t realize that he had said that out loud.

“How do you figure?” he asks.

“Your cheeks are all flushed and your gait is just a weee bit off.” Haikuan has the grace to whisper and Xiao Zhan looks at him in horror.

“My gate? My gate? It’s definitely not off. It’s definitely in the right place… oh wait, you mean, gait… haha. hahaha.” He closes his eyes and laughs some more before slinking down on the couch, which MianMian takes as permission for lounging back against Wen Ning, putting her feet up onto Xiao Zhan’s lap.

“A’Zhan, look at how sexy these shoes are. Aren’t they sexy?” 

He looks down and notices the red stilletos, but what he really likes are the red-painted toe nails. “I like your toenails.” He says, grabbing and pinching one, making MianMian giggle.

“Fuck, okay, so she is drunk too.” Haikuan says to his right, which MianMian to his left hears and says, “Oh, I’m not drunk, VP. I’m just… nice.”

That makes Haikuan laugh. “Yes, you’re _nice_.”

“I can’t believe the night has ended with me and the hot gays. What happened to the hot straights?” MianMian is all that is hetero despair.

“I don’t think they were invited to this wedding.” Xiao Zhan says. Wen Ning laughs.

“Where’s your husband?” he asks Haikuan.

“Oh, he got stuck with some great aunt who, I kid you not, is giving him the history of the Jin family’s connection to the Tang Dynasty. I had to step out to sit down for a minute.”

“The _Tang_ Dynasty?” Xiao Zhan asks, eyes wide, and then laughs. “Tang, like the drink? Because surely she does not mean, _The_ _Tang_ …”

“Oh, she most certainly does.” Haikuan is all that is indulgent, although even in his drunken state, Xiao Zhan can see that Haikuan looks tired.

“Don’t sleep yet. You can’t sleep on your wedding night. You have to rail Jin Guangyao so good that he won’t be able to walk tomorrow, you hear me? You gotta do it for all of us. This is…” he stops and his head lolls back for a second…

“This is…” Haikuan and MianMian asks at the same time.

“This is a milestone, Haikuan! One of us has gotten married. _Married_. One small step for KuanYao, but one giant leap for Chinese gays!”

“I didn’t realize you were this corny when you’re drunk.” Haikuan laughs.

“Corny? He’s so cute. With the bunny teeth and the weird laughs and the rosy cheeks.” MianMian says, pinching both his cheeks.

“Heeey!” he says, although he allows her to pinch.

“And there he is. Finally.” Haikuan says and Xiao Zhan opens his eyes to watch Guangyao walking towards them from the reception hall. 

“Oh, he is so cute! Look at those dimples, I can’t even!” 

“Hey, hey, he thinks you’re super cute too, so don’t even look at him.” Haikuan says.

“He does? Aww… What can I say, Haikuan? Your man has good taste.” He giggles.

“Dear God, how much did he drink?” Guangyao asks now, close enough to tip Xiao Zhan’s chin up to turn it back and forth.

He giggles again and says, “I was just telling Haikuan how cute you are. No wonder our niece and nephew look like they do. You and your sister are just…” he kisses the tips of his fingers to show rather than tell.

“Such a flirty drunk. Yibo is going to throw a fit when he comes out of outfit change.”

“Oh Wang Yibo…” MianMian sighs dreamily, closing her eyes. Then she opens them and leans over and whispers, a bit loudly though, because it seems like whatever she drank has made her partially deaf. “How’s he in bed? Good, right? Like, I’m always hot and bothered when I see him look at you. Like, I would pay money to watch him do you.”

“MianMian!” That’s Wen Ning, pulling on her arm. 

“What? I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking. Am I right? Am I right?” she looks up at both Guangyao and then at Haikuan. “No offense, guys, I just don’t know you well enough to want to see you bone. But this guy over here…” she pulls on Xiao Zhan’s arm. “I think he is an entirely different animal beneath the sheets. Not at all like how he is in the boardroom.”

“Heeey….” Xiao Zhan says, turning his head in her direction. “Don’t imagine my fiancé naked.”

“I can’t help it.” She murmurs, laying her head on his shoulder.

He closes his eyes and the performance of UNIQ earlier than evening flashes back. He tells his dick to not get hard, but hoooow. “I know. He is even hotter without his clothes on, if you can imagine it.”

MianMian lifts her head and looks at him. “You lucky asshole. I’m so fucking jealous!”

Xiao Zhan grins and turns to Guangyao. “So, how closely related to the Tang Dynasty am I through marriage?” 

“Oh, I’m sure Tang Xuanzong is my great uncle, removed 53 times.” 

Haikuan laughs and Xiao Zhan looks at him, at the way he stares adoringly at Guangyao. His heart is all warm and he pushes Haikuan off the sofa. “Go. Go take your man away before another aunt claims him with stories of their relation to the Hans.” 

Guangyao smiles in return - he does have the cutest smile - and says, “I want to give your boys my thanks before we leave.”

“How long does it take to change a goddamn shirt and pants?” Xiao Zhan mutters, pouting.

“There they are.” MianMian says and he looks up see all five of the boys coming out of the reception hall.

He tries not to sigh as he takes in Yibo’s suit look. It’s a legit 3-piece charcoal suit, all of them sporting the same style in different colors. He has been horny from the first moment he saw Yibo in the suit this afternoon. Getting drunk as a skunk has not made one iota of change to said horniness. If anything, the alcohol just makes him want to fuck him now, on this couch, to hell with who all are watching. 

MianMian is all giggles as he watches them approach. 

Haikuan and Guangyao stay fifteen more minutes chatting with the boys before they finally take the elevator up to their honeymoon suite. 

The rest of them make their way to the bar at the other end of the lobby where a number of those from the wedding had already congregated. 

Xiao Zhan is thankful that the bar is a far cry from the well-lit lobby where they had been lounging thus far and when Yibo takes him to a corner seat by the bar and pulls him in between his legs, he is only too eager to move in. There are some minor hoots and whistles from the boys, although Yibo waves them off and hugs him around the waist, putting his head on his shoulder.

The conversation is easy as the boys are now quite familiar with Wen Ning and MianMian and Wen Qing and Jin Su joins them soon enough, the babies asleep with the nanny whom they had brought with them. He loves that they have some time to themselves like this.

A half hour passes like that before he comes to the conclusion that Yibo’s cologne is driving him insane. It must make him start to rub against Yibo lightly because a few minutes later, Yibo whispers in his ear, “You want to make me come here?”

He shakes his head but fuck that just makes him hornier.

He pretends to adjust his seat but backs into Yibo a bit more and hears the slight hiss in his ear and can tell that Yibo is starting to get hard.

“Baby…” Yibo whispers in his ear, holding his hips in place without anyone else noticing.

Xiao Zhan leans over the bar and orders a seltzer and when the bartender walks away, he turns back to Yibo to whisper, “I’m… so fucking horny.” 

The bartender is back with the seltzer and he looks over to thank him, but can now feel the unmistakable poking against his back.

His eyes close and he has to try hard to not moan out loud.

Yixuan asks him something and he opens his eyes to answer, hoping that his answer had some connection to the question.

He looks down at Yibo’s hands around him, at his large palms and long fingers with their blunt fingertips and feels heat under his collar. He traces over Yibo’s index finger with his own, feather-light, the touch reminding him of how those fingers had teased him the last time they had been together three weeks ago when UNIQ had been on their trip to Canada and during the last day of it, he had surprised them with a visit. It had been a busy night, with their concert still wrapping up, but the boys had been so high on how well the tour had gone, Yibo especially, that he had actually made an attempt to find somewhere backstage to suck him off. No matter how he tended to be behind closed doors, the fear of discovery at such an enormous venue – especially with Yibo’s reputation on the line – had left Xiao Zhan cold to the prospect. Yibo had said it was okay, but Xiao Zhan had known how disappointed he was. He had initiated that night even before Yibo had a chance to, and after it was over, Yibo had told him that he never wanted Xiao Zhan to initiate just to make up for something. “It wasn’t because of that. I really wanted to.” He had said and Yibo had looked at him in that way of his before saying, “Anything I want to try, you can say no to, you know that, right? I just want you. Not specific kinds of sex.” He had nodded. Yibo had hugged him to sleep afterwards, but the next morning Xiao Zhan had woken up early to finger himself open and had then woken up Yibo with a blowjob and as soon as he had woken up, Xiao Zhan had climbed on top of him to ride him. Yibo had come so much that it had leaked out of him and afterwards when they lay together, exhausted, Yibo hadn’t been able to stop kissing him. They had stayed in bed until the afternoon and even though Yibo didn’t say anything, Xiao Zhan had finally understood how much Yibo liked it when he started things. 

He didn’t realize that all he needed to feel horny enough to start things was a little wine. Because as he traces Yibo’s fingers and imagines them inside him, he wonders who would care if he pulled Yibo into the closest bathroom to suck his cock. Because he really wants to. He can almost feel the hard length of it in his mouth…

In the next instant, Yibo’s hand is covering his mouth and Xiao Zhan leans back into Yibo’s body, needing his warmth.

He thinks he hears Yibo say something like, “You’re the best brother” and “Wen Ning, I owe you for life.” But he no longer cares about any of that as he turns around and kisses Yibo square on the mouth. 

Yibo’s lips are full and soft, but closed, and Xiao Zhan pulls back with a pout and opens his eyes. He can feel Yibo’s arms around him, rubbing his back, and he stares into those eyes, not used to this.

“You’re not going to kiss me back?” he asks, his eyes dropping to Yibo’s lips. 

“You want me to kiss you in front of all these people?” Yibo asks. “You’re drunk baby. And you don’t usually like this type of thing.”

“Says who?” he asks.

Yibo tilts his head, an eyebrow raised. “How much wine did you drink?” he asks.

“Just a weee bit.” He says, watching those lips again. He couldn’t wait to feel them tug on his nipple, suck on just the tip of his cock with that tongue teasing his slit….

“Baby, please have mercy, it’s like I can see into your brain and I am already way hard.” Yibo says, leaning close to whisper in his ear. “We are still with all our friends and you’re still a _wee_ bit drunk and you’re definitely going to regret all this tomorrow, so…”

He doesn’t let Yibo finish before he turns around and looks at the group. They are all looking at him, Wen Qing with the biggest smirk, although Seungyoun’s smirk is a very close second, Jin Su and Wen Ning with a wide grin, Sungjoo’s eyes bugging out, and Yixuan and Wenhan smiling. 

MianMian’s head is lolling on Wen Ning’s shoulder, sloshed to the high heavens, missing out on the show. He is thankful for small favors.

And if he needs the liquid courage of whatever he had imbibed earlier that evening, then so be it, because he bows a little bow to the group and says, “I love him very much and I’m very very _very_ horny for him right now… so, if you’ll excuse us…” he bows again with a diminutive, “thank you for understanding.”

“At it like rabbits, what did I tell you?” he hears Wen Qing tell Jin Su and feels the need to address this posthaste. “Hey Dr. Cunnilingus. We are in a judgement free zone here in the wonderful…” he pauses and looks back at Yibo. “Where are we again?” 

“Le Marais” Yibo supplies with a suppressed grin.

“Right, Le Marais.”

Yibo waves to the crowd and pulls off with him before he can say any more and really, it’s not like he has any more to say. 

The elevator is nearby and Yibo pulls him in as soon as it opens, pressing the close button by pounding on it a few times. 

He notices that there is no one else there with him and is on Yibo in the next instant, dropping kisses everywhere he can find skin. “Fuck, this suit has been driving me crazy all day. I could not focus on the service because I was too busy counting sheep to not have a hard-on.” He murmurs as he kisses Yibo again.

Yibo holds him close, but does not kiss him back and he pulls back with another pout.

“You don’t want me drunk? Am I embarrassing myself?” 

“Shh…” Yibo says, covering his mouth softly, dropping a kiss over his nose. 

The elevator dings open and Yibo urges him out and they round one corner before Yibo is keying into the room. 

Once the door locks behind them, Yibo stops and turns to look at him. 

He is so gorgeous that Xiao Zhan closes his eyes for a moment to calm down. When he opens them again, Yibo is still standing there, right in the hallway, a lone spotlight overhead the only illumination in the room.

His gaze lowers and he can see how hard Yibo still is, his erection trying to poke through the neat line of his pants.

He watches as Yibo lowers his zipper to take out his cock, stroking it a few times until he sees precum beading at the tip. 

He licks his lips and watches for a moment before he moves forward. He manages to get two licks in before Yibo pulls him up. 

“What?” he asks, as Yibo ushers him into the room. 

A few minutes later, their clothes are all gone and his hair is out of its pony tail and spread out on the bed as Yibo works him open with the lube while also rimming him. He is whining so much for his dick that Yibo finally relents and pulls him onto his lap and then Yibo is all the way inside, forcing a long groan out of both of them. 

“Touch my nipples…” he whispers, bringing Yibo’s one hand up to rub against them. They are so sensitive that he has a full-body spasm at the sensation. He takes Yibo’s index finger into his mouth to suck it slowly, imagining it was his cock in his mouth and inside him. Yibo sucks against his neck as Xiao Zhan takes the finger inside his mouth and brings it back down to rub against nipple. The sensation is so startling, he thinks he will come before he is ready. 

“You like it when I ride you?” he asks, backing against Yibo, grinding against his fullness.

Yibo grunts and he twists his torso to dig his fingers into Yibo’s hair. “You like knowing how much I love your cock.? I want it in my ass and my mouth at the same time. Hmm… can you arrange that? Make two of you and wake me up in the morning with both of you fucking me from each end?”

Yibo growls and his hips snap up into him, hitting his pleasure center each time, making him moan loudly. 

“For our honeymoon, take me somewhere far away and tie me up so you can fuck me whenever you want to. Hmm? I can wear little skirts the whole time so all you have to do when you want me fuck me is to pull me to you and lift my skirt and put your cock inside.”

“Fuck baby!” Yibo groans and stops moving for a moment, taking a deep breath. “If you keep talking like that, I’m going to come in a minute.”

That makes Xiao Zhan moan and he sucks his own finger as he says, “But I love to make you come. I love seeing you hard and leaking because you can’t wait to put it in me… I love feeling your mouth pull on my nipple until its pink and swollen.”

“Fuck, fuck…” even without moving, he can feel Yibo’s dick pulse inside him.

“I love watching those videos of you from your fans where they slow mo your dance moves because they can see the outline of your dick bobbing up and down beneath your pants.”

“What?” Yibo asks, all of his movements pausing.

“Hmm… you didn’t know that? Oh yea, one of it actually said something like, “why can’t Yibo’s man make sure he has tighter briefs on?” What a laugh. As if that would be enough to contain your cock.”

“Fuck!” Yibo says, turning him around so that they’re facing each other. “You watch my videos in your free time?” 

He grabs Yibo’s face between his hands and leans close to rub their noses together. “Like you didn’t know that.”

“I thought it was just one video when I sang that song that you like.”

“No, you confessed to me in that song baby… made my heart feel like an ocean and a drop all at the same time. I wanted to come see you and tell you that I liked you so _so_ much that it scared me. That if I allowed myself to see you, I wouldn’t want to leave you, ever. That I remembered all the times we were together like you were the only one I have ever been with. That I already knew that I couldn’t be with anybody else because I only wanted memories of your touch and your kisses and your sounds and all those things you liked to whisper to me when you wanted me so so badly. I wanted to only remember you for the rest of my life, no matter who you ended up with.” 

Yibo’s eyes are glassy now and after a moment, he blinks them, hugging him close and burying his head in the crook of his shoulder.

He holds Yibo tight and whispers again, “Let me love you, baby. Like I’ve wanted to love all my life.”

Yibo pulls back to kiss him, so soft this time and so slow. And it fills his head with clouds. When they pull back a while later, he closes his eyes and bends back far enough that he is hanging over Yibo’s arm holding him around his back. It’s the perfect leverage for Yibo to lean over to lick his nipples and it draws out such a long moan from him that he hooks his legs around Yibo’s hips, urging him on to come in faster, harder and he is sure somewhere in the middle he is yelling out a whole bunch of other stuff that have them coming together in a shudder, holding onto each other. 

xxxxxxx

The morning after is… an experience. Yibo teases him for everything that he had yelled out and walks around talking about how to clone himself, although just before they leave the room, Yibo pulls him aside to kiss him long and deep. By then Xiao Zhan had pieced together almost the entire night and he can’t help the flush climbing up his neck when Yibo lets him go. “So, it turns out, maybe you’re as into me as I’m into you.” 

“Newsflash.” He says, rolling his eyes.

“I much prefer the drunk version of you telling me in filthy and loving detail exactly how very much you’re into me.”

He reaches over to kiss Yibo one more time before they’re out the door.

Everyone’s supposed to meet downstairs for breakfast at 10 and it’s only 9:30, so it’s enough time to mentally prep for the mortification that is going to ensue once the entire gang gets there.

Wen Qing and Jin Su are already there with the babies and they take the seats next to them. Xiao Lu is quite excited to see Yibo and A’Yuan immediately climbs onto Xiao Zhan’s lap. Jin Su gives him a knowing smile before turning to Yibo to greet him properly. Wen Qing, on the other hand, turns to him and goes, “So, Mr. I’m-Very-Very- _Very_ -Horny-for-Yibo.”

He sees Yibo bite the inside of his cheek, trying not to smile, although his eyes are trained on Jin Su’s face.

“Getting pussy on the regular is still not bringing out your magnanimous side?” Xiao Zhan leans over to whisper to Wen Qing.

“This is my magnanimous side, son! Otherwise, I would roast you over the coals with how loud you were when you moaned sitting on his lap at the fucking bar. With all of UNIQ and my brother and MianMian and your sister-in-law right there! Literally brought all the conversation to a dead stop!”

“I did _not_.”

“Fuck yes, you did. Poor guy had to literally slap his hand over your mouth.”

He flushed a deep pink and thought it prudent to make himself some tea.

Wen Qing must take pity on him because she leans over and whispers again, “Can’t say that I blame you though. He has a monster dick.”

“Stop.” he whispers back.

She laughs. “I’m going to give you a few more just to get you to buck up because Seungyoun is going to be all over you with this when he comes down.”

He drops his head against his hand and shakes it. “Alright, hit me.”

“You guys were seriously hot together. Honest. Jin Su was so turned on that she came three times with really no effort on my part.

“What the fuck!” he looks over, eyes wide. “That’s my sister-in-law, you idiot.”

“Yes, it is. With amazing breasts and a butter pussy.”

He is sure he is bright red when he sneaks a look at Jin Su, although Yibo looks at him concerned and he shakes his head with a smile and looks back at Wen Qing.

“See I can say that to you because you are not aroused by her, per se. But you are turned on because it’s still sensual. Yup, that was us last night, watching you both. You get me? Tit for tat.”

“Yea, except I did not give you a blow by blow account of Yibo’s dick.”

Wen Qing’s eyebrow shoots up and he rolls his eyes, “No pun intended.”

“Oh, I think you intended it.” She laughs.

“You’re evil.” He says.

“Yes, I am. I learned from the best after all, BFF.” She winks.

He has no time to answer as the rest of the gang comes in, including the newlyweds, and then it’s hours of teasing and warmth and friendship and love, Yibo at some point sneaking into the seat next to him to find Xiao Zhan’s hand under the table. And when he absently brings Yibo’s hand up to his chest at some point to hold it there, he hardly notices. Although his mother does, and she turns to his father with a look. Ruohan rolls his eyes and passes her a 100. 

Au Revoir La Marais, You will always hold fond memories, he thinks later when they check out of the hotel to return home, Yibo and all his friends and family right next to him, with the babies in his and Yibo’s arms.

xxxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright my dears, I have to apologize for the fountain of smut that keeps on giving. I have never written this much back-to-back smut in any of my stories, I don't think, and maybe it's because these dudes lived like monks for so long that they're demanding to make up for lost time. Either way, here it is, the penultimate chapter of Precious Things, which started on a whim in response to a cam/rent boy BJYX prompt and grew to be a living breathing unicorn all its own. Thank you for indulging me. And hope you will stay with me for one more chapter before this wraps up. And of course, there is no such thing as a comment that is too long. Talk away. You know how I feel about conversations ;) - Devi


	46. Precious Things

“So what do you think?” he hears the voice behind him.

He is standing by the window of the enormous log cabin that they have rented for a week, watching the two huddled heads sitting at the end of the pier. They have been at it for hours, fishing hats in place, his father with a vest and a multitude of fishing paraphernalia stuffed into its various pockets, and his husband, with a similar vest and a few of said paraphernalia - mainly for show - stuffed into his pockets as well, their respective pants and jeans rolled up, bare feet dipping in the water, both holding their fishing rods steady, silences and conversations flowing side by side as the hours passed.

He had timed them once a few years ago and they had sat like that for almost five hours. Xiao Zhan had told him that night, unaccountably relaxed as they lay in bed, that fishing with his father was as close to transcendence as he could get. That he could literally feel his breathing and heartrate slow down.

Even though they had been married almost five years now, it never stopped to warm his heart to watch Xiao Zhan with his father. In some sense, he thought Xiao Zhan was the son he himself had never been able to be, flying the coop as he had done so early in life.

They just seemed to get each other, often moving in sync, and he swore that Xiao Zhan could sometimes read his father’s expressions in ways that no one could, even when there was no real expression to speak of. He still remembered that day long long ago when Xiao Zhan had had ‘the talk’ with his father. Rather than ask for permission to marry his son, he had asked for permission to be the son-in-law of the house, saying with an earnestness and commitment like a doctor taking a Hippocratic oath that he would be honored to become part of the Wang household, that he would cherish forever the right to visit Mr. Wang at much as his heart desired, as his second father, if allowed. The talk had been only between Xiao Zhan and his father, but he had eavesdropped of course as it was too important a conversation to leave to the whims of fate. As he stood outside that door of their small kitchen listening to his father and Xiao Zhan, he had physically felt his heart squeeze into a tight ball of vibration. That night, their lovemaking had been so tender and sweet that at some point Xiao Zhan had whispered in his ear, “You heard us, didn’t you?” He hadn’t answered, but had pressed long lingering kisses along every surface of Xiao Zhan’s glowing skin, unable to give words to what he felt inside.

“They’re at it again?” Ruohan asks now, looking out the window along with him, smiling. Once upon a time, Yibo knew that such a sight would have made Ruohan envious. For some reason, Xiao Zhan always refused to believe that such was the case, to this day, whereas Yibo could see plain as day, all the tells when Ruohan became possessive of Xiao Zhan. The slight raising of the eyebrow, the slight tilting up on the chin, the slight rubbing of the right thumb against the index finger. With everyone else, Xiao Zhan was so perceptive, but when it came to his own father, it was still hard for him to believe that there was no one in the world that Ruohan appeared to care about more than his younger son, with the twins being a very close second.

“Third hour now.” He answers with a slight smile, watching now as Wen Qing comes out the front door and walks slowly along the pier. She has on a long skirt and a spaghetti strap top in cotton, she running a few degrees hotter than the rest of them, even in the early fall weather. Her belly protrudes quite a bit, this being the 35th week of her pregnancy, and when she is close to Xiao Zhan, he watches his husband turn absently in her direction to drop a quick kiss on her belly. The belly that is carrying his baby.

Ruohan watches the scene and Yibo sees him smiling now. At some point in the past three years, Ruohan had started to smile more. Not often, just more... as compared to before. Xiao Zhan often didn’t notice – or so he said – but Yibo did. Maybe it's because his own emotions tended to have the same subtleties in expression that he is so clearly able to read Ruohan’s. It helped that he wasn’t all that intimidated by Ruohan. Which always seemed to tickle his mother-in-law silly, but Sanren’s laugh is always this sort of sunburst and rainbows sort of thing and he never tired of seeing it or listening to it. Whatever it may be that tickled her silly. 

“You think she’s going to make it to the due-date?” he asks, watching as Wen Qing continues to stand next to Xiao Zhan, he holding onto her legs affectionately.

“She says as long as she makes it to 37 weeks, she's good. She is healthy, she'll be okay.” Ruohan says with confidence.

This conversation itself would have been strange even as recent as two years ago, but now he does not find it odd to speak to Ruohan like this, asking him questions that concern the family in this manner. Besides, he knew of the story of Jin Su’s delivery of the twins. Knew his husband, as well as the rest of the family, had been somewhat traumatized from watching Jin Su almost bleed to death. So when Wen Qing had agreed to become their egg donor and surrogate – she had been the one to offer herself up for the role when they had been looking into finding both and had had an initial conversation with her given her profession – Xiao Zhan had immediately said _No_ and it had required Wen Qing a solid month to convince him that she was the best option. That this way, they could use Yibo’s sperm – Xiao Zhan had been insistent on that – and her egg and still have both sides of the family involved in the process rather than find and vet a whole new person for the job. Besides, she had secretly admitted, she wanted to experience pregnancy. And given that they all lived together, really, Xiao Zhan hadn’t been able to ignore that it really was the best solution.

“So, it turns out instead of marrying me like I had originally suggested, you’re instead going to carry my husband’s baby. We are truly a strange family, eh?”

“What marriage?” Yibo had overheard the conversation and had asked.

Wen Qing had winked at him and simply said, “Long story. It all worked out in the end.” Although she had asked him afterwards, privately, if he was completely okay with her suggestion. He had taken her hands in his and had asked her if he shouldn’t be the one asking her that and how thrilled he was that she would be the one to carry his and Xiao Zhan’s baby.

Jin Su had been alarmed, and it had taken her some time to come around to the idea. He and Xiao Zhan had left those conversations to Wen Qing and Jin Su, letting Wen Qing know that she could back out at any time if Jin Su was opposed.

But Jin Su had found them several weeks later and had just hugged them both, whispering that she is glad the twins will be getting another brother or sister soon (Haikuan and Jin Guangyao had had one of their own two years back).

Xiao Zhan had hugged her back fiercely, and they had held onto each other for some time, remembering Yibo imagined, the shared horror of what they had been through before and allowing it to be left behind. Although, he knew that it would likely not be left behind until Wen Qing delivered safely.

“So what do you think?” Ruohan asks again, turning to him.

He sighs and turns to face his father-in-law. This had been a conversation that he had been putting off.

“Don’t you think it’s sufficient for me to be behind-the-scenes rather than actually take on the role of a board member?”

“Why?” Ruohan asks.

“It sort of reeks of nepotism.”

“It’s a family business. You’re family.”

 _Oh_. Sometimes, his father-in-law could say things like this that left no possibility of a coherent response.

“Although I still wouldn’t hire you if you had no talent Yibo. But now that UNIQ doesn’t tour nearly as much as you all used to, it's the perfect time for you to ease into the business.”

After graduating with his degree, on a whim, he had gone to graduate school for an MBA, especially after Sunjgoo and Yixuan got married and Wenhan and Seungyoun had started focusing more and more on their solo careers. He had done it at the time thinking that it would help to have some background in this in the event it turned out to be a help to Xiao Zhan. Xiao Zhan had been supportive, although worried that Yibo was dabbling in fields that did not interest him simply to be of help to the Wen family. His father-in-law, on the other hand, had been thrilled, clearly seeing a neon expiration date on his life as an idol and beyond ecstatic that he showed some interest in the family business.

“To be honest, I would hire you even if only to have you rep the company. You’ll have to work hard so that they can look past your… _looks_ … but then you’re good. You’re steady. Not easily flustered. Even by the likes of me. Knows when to not react. Knows less is more. All things I can’t teach even my best director. My son, even as talented as he is, can’t handle the entire group by himself. If I make him do that, he will end up like me, trying to build a relationship with his family in his 70s. I don’t want that for him. It’s better if you do it together. So he won’t keep you apart from it and you can share his burden.”

It had started from there and his role had slowly expanded over the past couple of years. But board member still seemed a rather enormous thing to get into. He had talked about it with Xiao Zhan and his husband had teased him for even thinking of saying _no_. Although that night, Xiao Zhan had brought out the old Wei Ying red robe with the long slit up both legs, his hair half up and half down, looking like he had walked down from heaven to seduce all mortals. Yibo had been blind with lust, and had tied up Xiao Zhan to the back of their bedpost and slowly opened the robe to pay homage to every inch of his body with his lips and tongue. Xiao Zhan had been writhing in pleasure by the end of it, begging him to put his thick, leaking cock inside and take him hard. When he had finally undone the ties around his wrist, Xiao Zhan had climbed onto his lap and sank down on his hard dick, coming as soon as he bottomed out. He had slumped onto Yibo’s shoulder, panting, feeling Yibo still hard inside him and had whispered, “Fuck, I think I may have a power kink, baby.”

“You think?” Yibo had whispered back, grinning.

“And fuck, your dick is still so hard.” He had pulled back and squeezed his inner walls and Yibo had almost cried out in pleasure.

Xiao Zhan had started to move again, slowly, holding his gaze, that hair a glorious fall almost brushing his waist, those lips swollen from his kisses, and those eyes… those eyes devouring him…

“I’m so fucking horny for you all the time, idol, board member, or regular ol’ Yibo.” Xiao Zhan had whispered and Yibo had swooped in to take those lips in another kiss as he had felt his cum spurt inside the tight wet tunnel of Xiao Zhan’s body.

“Regular ol’ Yibo with a big cock.” He had whispered back.

“Oye. Why do you think I married you?” Xia Zhan had asked with a grin.

“Because your father made you?”

“Please! Wen Ruohan can’t make me do anything. But Wang Yibo… he has made me the horniest cocksucker on this planet.”

Bedroom shenanigans notwithstanding, Xiao Zhan had left the decision to Yibo.

“Maybe in a couple more years. Once I have a bit more experience under my belt. You put Xiao Zhan through many more years of practically slave labor.” he says to Ruohan now.

Ruohan sighs a quiet sigh. “You think I was wrong?”

Yibo is surprised. Not that he is asked this question, although that is surprising too. But the fact that Ruohan even has this question is a surprise. He is a man who never second-guesses himself. He lives in a world where that could be fatal.

Except maybe it is allowed now that he is in the twilight of his life and has given himself permission to do so.

Yibo doesn’t answer.

Ruohan looks back out the window and sees that Wen Qing has walked back inside and it’s just Xiao Zhan and Yibo’s father once more. Xiao Zhan is spraying more bug spray on both of their legs. It’s the water-proof kind because Yibo had seen him open it up in the multitude of items that Xiao Zhan had ordered for his father for this trip. They do these whole family vacations at least once a year, generally in the fall, and usually with both sets of parents, Wen Qing, Jin Su, and the kids. Occasionally, Jin Su’s parents and Haikuan, Jin Guangyao, and their baby come too, although this year, they hadn't.

The log cabin they have rented is enormous with 6 bedrooms and two enormous living rooms with soft linen covered furniture in all shades of rust and off-white and a soft blue. There were several functional fireplaces, although it was not chilly enough to make use of them. He thinks he wants to come back to such a place in the dead of winter with just Xiao Zhan so that they can light one such fireplace just for themselves and spend long hours into the night lounging in front of it, Xiao Zhan reading and him, fiddling around with some of the new games that he was sent to test, although he also loved it when Xiao Zhan was in the mood to read to him, playing with his hair absently, his voice animated enough to always keep sleep at bay. He loved the books that Xiao Zhan picked to read to him, some quirky, some funny, some wondrous, and some… well, some erotica… for shits and giggles… followed by a good round of fucking as they tried to figure out how many of the positions described were humanly possible.

“They get on well, don’t they?” Ruohan asks after a while.

“Mmm.” He agrees.

“Even in the best of circumstances, I don’t think I would have been enough.” Ruohan says now. This time, Yibo actually turns to him in surprise.

Ruohan is still watching the scene outside, which now involved Xiao Zhan and his father packing up the catch into a cooler. They were having fish tonight, clearly. The twins were going to be excited. They loved watching his father clean the fish like the pro that he was. Yibo helps with the cleaning and the marinating and the grilling; that part of the fishing exercise, he was good for, and Xiao Zhan wanted no part of. A'Yuan liked to pretend to help. Sanren was always there with a drink to keep them company, keeping up a steady stream of conversation the whole time, keeping A'Yuan occupied if he got too involved next to the stove.

“He and you are a lot alike.” He says now.

Ruohan scoffs.

“He thinks so. He may not always like it, it may not always align with his notions of how he wishes to be, but he knows, through and through, the best and worst parts of him are all you.”

Ruohan looks over, and if surprise was an expression that Ruohan was capable of showing, Yibo thinks this is what it will look like.

“You think so?” Ruohan asks. His voice would sound wistful in anyone else.

“Not what I think. He has said so.” Yibo answers.

Ruohan looks back to the pier. Yibo does too. Xiao Zhan is smiling as he helps his father up and his father is groaning at the effort. Even though some of it is for show, some of it is because his father actually does have early arthritis. Xiao Zhan knows and helps in that way of his. Affectionate and unobtrusive in that silly dramatic way…

He loves him so much.

“One year.” Ruohan looks back at Yibo with a smile. An actual smile.

Yibo sighs a little. And makes sure Ruohan hears it.

That makes Ruohan smile wider.

“Your baby will be one by then. A good milestone to officially join the board.”

“Maybe I should grow a beard.”

“Why?”

“You’ve been telling me I need to look the part.”

“I hardly think a beard is going to help.”

Yibo is quiet for a moment and then says, “That sounds like something Xiao Zhan would say.”

It makes Ruohan smile. Again.

\-----------

The temperature has fallen more than expected and that night in bed, he sinks against Xiao Zhan’s warm body, and Xiao Zhan’s fingers absently tease around his belly button.

“What do you think about your father getting remarried?”

He looks over in surprise when he hears Xiao Zhan’s question.

“Why, did he say something?” he asks curiously.

Xiao Zhan pauses for a moment and asks, “You know, Mrs. Song?”

“The auntie from two doors down from my dad?” Mrs. Song’s husband had passed away some ten years ago and she had a son who lived abroad.

Xiao Zhan nods. “She likes him.”

“Of course, she does. Why else would she bring over food for him every Friday?”

Xiao Zhan raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t know that dad’s interested though.”

“Oh I think he is.” Xiao Zhan says now, pulling his hand back from Yibo’s belly button.

Yibo grabs it to put it back and Xiao Zhan smiles.

“How do you know?”

The finger resumes its teasing and it’s a long moment before Xiao Zhan speaks, keeping his eyes down, “I may have asked him…”

“You did not!” Yibo raises Xiao Zhan’s chin by his hand, although he still keeps his eyes down.

Xiao Zhan nods eventually, when the hand under his chin doesn’t move away.

“How? When? _How_?”

“I don’t know, I think it was that weekend that you were gone on your last tour…”

“That was like a solid 8 months ago.” Yibo interrupts.

“Well, okay, yes, I was in Luoyang that whole weekend. Remember, he and I had gone to Guoliang for a day trip?”

“Yes…” they did day trips with his dad all the time when they were in Luoyang, although when he had been touring more frequently, Xiao Zhan and his dad used to go on those trips on their own too.

“Well, Mrs. Song came over that night after we came home. Dad’s knees were acting up a bit and his feet were a little swollen, so I was getting a footbath ready and she came over with some food, but took one look at his state and immediately went to get some herbs and stuff. Worked wonders. I ended up asking her to stay and eat with us. She is so shy when it really comes down to it. You would think with all the meal prep and bringing over, the woman is going to be more gutsy, but that’s really all she does. Either way, she finally ended up staying for dinner, and…” he pauses for a moment to look up and Yibo notices that his eyes are smiling when he adds, “they were so shy and awkward and… adorable…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, I didn’t want to jump the gun, you know. One dinner does not a relationship make.”

“We didn’t even have that.” Yibo reminds him.

“Yea baby, but we had two five-hour conversations.” Xiao Zhan replies, as if that established that.

“It was the conversations and not the sex that did it?” he asks, turning to face Xiao Zhan, smiling now.

“Hmm…” Xiao Zhan murmurs, his index finger absently rubbing along the v-line of Yibo’s hips. “You can go an entire lifetime without ever having even one of those conversations. Hell, one, not even a half hour of it… and we had… hours…”

He loves it when Xiao Zhan’s eyes get soft and warm like this and he brings up his hand to press kisses into those fingers one by one.

It makes Xiao Zhan remember a similar move on the train and he whispers, “Okay, maybe there were some kisses in between too…”

That voice is so husky with remembrance that Yibo kisses the inside of Xiao Zhan’s wrist.

“That’s because I was bursting with love…” Yibo whispers, his voice tickling Xiao Zhan in that way that he makes his stomach suck in, arousal starting to course through.

Xiao Zhan’s eyes drift shut and his lips parts just enough to make Yibo pause. He loves turning his husband into just this state… when he’s turned on in that passionate way of his more so than in a lusty way (although he greatly enjoys that too)… and he’s like a painting, the long sweep of those lashes and the trembling fullness to those lips, the very sketch of sensual anticipation.

There’s a considerable amount of time spent kissing that night before Xiao Zhan holds onto him tightly, legs wrapped around him, deep sighs wrung out each time he moves in and out, the heat between them delicious in the coolness of the night. There are so many, _I love you, baby…_ and _Fuck I love you so much_... whispered in his ear and under his jaw and over his eyes and against his neck that Yibo loses count, although he never tires of those words falling from Xiao Zhan’s lips. Today, there are so many more of them than usual though, and he shows his appreciation all over Xiao Zhan’s body.

They have a running tally of how many hickeys are on Xiao Zhan’s body each morning after one of these nights and Yibo had worked out that it’s a mean of 5+/-3. Although, there were isolated instances where the number has gone up to 12 or 13. Outliers. He wasn’t an animal. Usually.

Afterwards, when they lie in each other’s arms, he asks, “So, what made you ask him now?” picking up the previous conversation as if the carnal interruption had not occurred.

“Well, I think I have had enough time now to watch that relationship evolve. Sometimes I ask her to go check on him if I think his arthritis is acting up when we aren’t there. And I think… well, I think, it’s definitely mutual now…”

Yibo is spooning Xiao Zhan from behind and pulls him back for emphasis as he asks, “You think they…?”

Xiao Zhan doesn’t answer, although Yibo thinks there is a smile on that face. “How do you know?”

Xiao Zhan turns his face in profile to ask, “How does anyone know these things?”

Yibo thinks on that for a long moment and says, “You read him better that I have ever been able to, for all that he and I are so alike.”

“Isn’t that the same with you and my dad?” Xiao Zhan asks, snuggling under the sheets and further back into Yibo now that whatever sweat they had worked up from sex was starting to cool off.

“You think so?”

“He talks to you like he talks to no one else… I’m always mystified.”

“And how is that?” Yibo asks.

“Like an equal. You don’t understand. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad talk to anyone who was not at least a decade older than him like an equal.”

“Does it bother you?” he asks after some time.

“What? That he is not open with me in the same way?”

Yibo nods.

“No, I have your dad for that. And I’m glad Wen Ruohan has found a son-in-law that he thinks the world of.”

Yibo is quiet. He doesn’t know how much of that is fully true, but he is glad that Xiao Zhan thinks so. Because no matter what he said, Yibo has come to realize that his husband thought the world of what Ruohan thought of things. Hell, Xiao Zhan would never have come around, he knows, unless Ruohan had so openly accepted their relationship, no matter how deeply he had fallen in love. Love, for Xiao Zhan, was a luxury that he could nurture at will in his heart; he was too practical and conscientious and aware of what he had on his hands to ever give into such a luxury without some assurance of limiting collateral damage. Especially when the liege was as powerful as Wen Ruohan.

“It turns you on that your father holds me in such high regard, doesn’t it?” Yibo asks now, noticing that Xiao Zhan is not fully soft for all that he had come just an hour ago.

He can feel that grin in the way Xiao Zhan’s profile lifts, although instead of answering the question Xiao Zhan instead says, “So, now that your father is living in sin – occasionally, I think – should we just encourage them to… you know? Make it official?”

“Living in sin? Oh please, don’t say such things about him and give me mental images.” Yibo swats at his behind.

Xiao Zhan giggles. But then says more seriously, “I worry, Yibo. She is still two houses down. And he’s alone. And I think in the winter, his joints hurt more than he lets on, and he is not always good with taking all his medicines on time. It’s not like we can go down every weekend. I also think that Mrs. Song really is pining pretty hard for him.”

His eyes water unexpectedly and he is glad that Xiao Zhan is turned away from him. Sometimes he feels sad for Ruohan that this is what he had lost out on. A son like this. His own father must have saved a country in his past life to meet Xiao Zhan in this one.

“So, how did you ask him?” Yibo asks finally, when he thinks his voice won’t betray him.

“Oh, you know, I said, _I would love to have a mother-in-law too, dad. I feel like Mrs. Song put that application in years ago and it’s still pending_.”

“What?” Yibo asks, laughing. “You did not.”

Xiao Zhan nods.

“What did he say?”

“He got all shy. Didn’t say anything for a while. But, then when we were almost done with fishing this evening, he asked me if I thought Mrs. Song would say yes.”

“Really?” he is surprised and not a little moved that his father would also have such uncertainties about love. Although, given his temperament and personality, that made all the sense in the world.

“Hmm… I told him Mrs. Song adores him. Just like he adores her. And how would he know what she is going to say if he won’t ask.”

“Hmm…. So, after the baby, we should prepare for a wedding?”

Xiao Zhan pulls his hand to him and kisses the inside of his palm and nods happily, as if this is already a settled matter.

Xxxxxx

The Xiao-Wang-Wen baby arrives rather quietly, almost on the exact due date. Wen Qing, in classic Wen Qing fashion breaks her water at midnight and calmly walks over to their room to announce that she is going into labor. She thinks she can drive herself to hospital, no need to bother anyone else, as she expects the labor may be long and everyone else can arrive tomorrow. The twins had crept into their room at some point in the middle of the night and Xiao Lu gets up to stand on the bed as Yibo looks at Wen Qing as if she has sprouted two heads.

“Who is it, baby?” Xiao Zhan asks from bed, trying to get Xiao Lu to lie back down, although now that Yibo is at the door, she hops off the bed to follow him.

“It’s momma.” She announces.

Yibo picks Xiao Lu up and brings her back to bed and returns to Wen Qing’s side. “Stop talking crazy. I’m going to drive you.” He looks back at Xiao Zhan to say, “I’m taking Wen Qing to the hospital. You stay here with the kids and keep an eye out on Jin Su. She’s still sleeping?” he asks, turning back to Wen Qing, who nods. “She is… I gave her a sedative earlier. she has been worried and sleepless now for weeks…I just can’t put her through this.”

Yibo squeezes her hand and nods, although Xiao Zhan is also by their side now. Wen Qing looks at him and says, “Let her sleep. We’ll call from the hospital once we get there.”

Yibo can tell Xiao Zhan wants to come, but he looks back at both the twins on the bed, now A’Yuan is up too, and turns back around to nod.

“Don’t wake up dad and mom till the morning. These sort of things take a while.” Wen Qing says. Although Xiao Zhan knows what she is also saying is that they too remember… and she doesn’t want them to go through those long hours of worrying.

Yibo calls him from the hospital a half hour later, letting him know that Wen Qing has been checked in. As the father of the baby, he is allowed in the room with her, so he has a cot next to her bed. He is comfortable. Don’t worry about him. He will call in the morning. Etc. etc.

Xiao Zhan doesn’t sleep though. He does check in on Jin Su to make sure she is still sleeping before coming back to bed with the twins and putting them back to sleep.

“Is mommy still sleeping?” Xiao Lu asks. He nods.

“Is momma about to have my sister?” A’Yuan asks. He nods.

That seems to be enough for them before they lie down. And before long, they are both asleep, A’Yuan clutching onto the dinosaur that Yibo had gotten him for his third birthday, still with him three years later, raggedy as it is now.

Yibo calls at 7 in the morning to say that Wen Qing is in active labor. The twins are still sleeping and he goes to get his mom to be with them so that he can go to the hospital. His dad wakes up too and insists on coming with him.

By the time they get to the hospital, Wang Xiao Sizhui has already arrived, a healthy baby girl weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces, sliding out of her mother’s womb in 37 minutes flat. Wen Qing looks fatigued when they see her, but in good spirits.

They call home and his mother drives the rest of the brood to the hospital, assuring them that Jin Su is holding up okay.

When they get to the hospital, they let Jin Su and Wen Qing be alone as the rest of them head over to the hospital cafeteria to get breakfast.

Wen Qing is home two days later with the baby. Her milk doesn’t come in for another 48 hours and thus, the baby starts on formula and he and Yibo take turns for the feedings, every three hours. In some sense, it helps them bond much quicker and allows Wen Qing the time for some much needed sleep, although she tells them jokingly that Jin Su hugs her so tight at night that she can’t even breathe. The twins have their own bedroom, although now that they see their moms and uncles preoccupied, they start sneaking into their grandparents’ room during those nights when they feel like it, one after the other.

Even when Wen Qing’s milk comes in, it’s not enough to keep the baby full, and thus he and Yibo continue with their schedules. It’s exhausting, the alteration in sleep schedules, but manageable. They move the crib into their room rather than the nursery and it’s easier to manage.

It’s two months before the new schedule starts to feel normal and by then, they have accommodated to how life has changed. Sizhui looks a lot like Xiao Zhan as a baby, Sanren says, and Yibo looks ecstatic because she is a preternaturally beautiful infant. Xiao Zhan says they’re all just biased, that Xiao Lu and A’Yuan were still the prettiest babies he had ever seen in his life. Although he carries Sizhui around so much that Yibo has to fight for his turn.

Ruohan and Sanren are excited to have another baby in the house and fight for their turns too.

And Jin Su, poor Jin Su has finally stopped checking the bed to make sure Wen Qing doesn’t start bleeding at night while she sleeps. Xiao Zhan holds her to his chest occasionally while Yibo has Sizhui, because he can feel the way Jin Su’s body relaxes when he holds her. “I can hold you here forever if you want.” He tells her with a grin once when she is fully boneless.

“Yea, okay, so Yibo can beat me up.” she rolls her eyes.

“Please, Yibo and I owe you for life. For suffering through what you went through during all of Wen Qing’s pregnancy. The last ten months have been quite tough on you.”

Jin Su is quiet for a bit, but then she turns her face into his chest and snuggles a bit. “You always smell so good. No wonder Yibo wants to eat you up all the time.”

Xiao Zhan smiles and runs his fingers soothingly over her hair. He knows a deflection when he hears one. She doesn’t want to talk about it. He can understand.

Yibo’s father comes to see the baby that first week and then again when the baby is two months old. And this time he brings Mrs. Song with him. She is a shy sweet woman and Sanren goes out of her way to make her feel comfortable. They are at the mansion for the whole weekend. That Saturday, the Jins, Haikuan, Jin Guangyao, and their two-year old boy come over too. The twins have come into their position as the big brother and sister of the bunch with a sort of Wen ease and they alternate between bossing around each other and assuming ownership of the “babies”, as the two-year old and the infant have both been categorized.

That night of dinner is somehow filled with reminiscences, mostly brought up by Sanren, and Yibo watches Ruohan look rather fondly at his mother-in-law when she launches into a story about his first visit to the mansion.

“I swear to the Creator that poor Haikuan was sitting between these two, trying not to go up in flames with the way they were shooting eye darts at each other.”

“That was all animosity.” Xiao Zhan jumps in to interrupt, giving his mother the eye that his father is sitting right there, as is Yibo’s father and soon-to-be-stepmother and the Jins and... seriously woman!

But his mother is shameless. Classic Sanren shameless. “Animosity, pfft!” She says, looking to Haikuan for confirmation of her sentiment.

He looks at Haikuan and gives him the eye, his eyeballs rolling subtly in the direction of Yibo’s father sitting beside him.

Haikuan looks amused and says, “I thought I was going to go up in flames too.”

“Everyone is this house is without even half an ounce of shame. I apologize.” Xiao Zhan proclaims, bowing his head to the Jins and then to Yibo’s dad and Mrs. Song.

Ruohan laughs.

Xiao Zhan looks up at him with narrowed eyes.

“And your sense of shame is beyond the ocean, I take it.” Ruohan says, raising an eyebrow, still looking amused.

Yibo watches the flush that spreads immediately from Xiao Zhan’s neck all the way to his hairline and tries not to laugh.

Later than night, he hugs Xiao Zhan from behind while he is holding Sizhui in his arms, trying to rock the baby to sleep. Her eyes are half-lidded; she is treading the shores of slumber in that pleasant hazy sort of way that babies have.

Xiao Zhan asks him in a whisper, “You think my dad has ever heard us?”

“Heard us what?”

Xiao Zhan turns in his hold, giving him his profile and that expression that says, _you know what!_

“I’m not that loud.” Yibo says.

Xiao Zhan’s eyes narrow right before Yibo says the rest, “But when you whine for my cock, you _are_ … just a little bit…”

“Stop!” Xiao Zhan says, eyes wide.

“I don’t think he cares.”

“That’s not the point, asshole.”

Yibo grins and drops a kiss below Xiao Zhan’s ear, breathing in the baby scent there. It smells just like their baby. He hugs him tighter and whispers, “I love you so much.”

Xiao Zhan melts back against him, all other thoughts forgotten now, feeling exactly the kind of way that Yibo is feeling.

They both watch Sizhui as her eyes gently close and they could swear there is a smile on her face.

Precious Thing, she is.

xxxxxxxx

Precious Things, all of them are...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And.... here we are, finally at the end. What a trip this has been. Thank you for indulging me, staying with me, commenting, conversing, discussing, sharing, so passionately too... I really do look forward to reading what all of you have to say. Hope you enjoyed this journey. Love, Devi


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